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2esd1s | why has summer vacation gradually become shorter since the 1900s? | Now, being a high school student, I'm kind of jealous of my parents and grandparents who probably got an extra month off. I'm not complaining, but I wouldn't mind some extra time away from school. Is there a good reason that the summer vacation became shorter? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2esd1s/eli5_why_has_summer_vacation_gradually_become/ | {
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"Long summer vacations aren't actually that great of an idea. Because the longer you spend out of school, the more shit you forget, so the more time you have to spend the next school year being brought back up to speed on all of the stuff you should've remembered from last year. Other countries have gone with shorter, but more frequent periods of time off and they seem to generate improved results.",
"Summer vacations were mainly a thing so that kids could help with their families farms. As that doesn't really happen as much, days off school are now being spread throughout the year, as that is really a better idea (one massive breaks leaves kids having forgotten a lot of stuff).",
"* education is more important than is used to be, making more in school time necessary\n* in the early 1900s, most people were farmers, and needed their kids to work the farm until harvest...summer vacation was largely to accomodate them",
"I read this article recently\n\n_URL_0_"
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6qtywu | why is it hard to breathe when taking a shower? | I don't use heavily scented body wash and shampoo, and also there is no steam when I take the shower, but why is it that I find it hard to breathe when doing so? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6qtywu/eli5_why_is_it_hard_to_breathe_when_taking_a/ | {
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"Maybe it's psychosomatic, maybe it's bad ventilation, maybe you're born with it, maybe it's Maybelline.",
"_URL_0_\n\nThis ELI explains it pretty neatly. "
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7aaex0 | decimal factorials | I understand how factorials with integers work, but how do you calculate factorials with decimals? Aren't there an infinite number of decimals between any 2 integers? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7aaex0/eli5_decimal_factorials/ | {
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"Using the [Gamma function](_URL_0_). The Gamma (Γ) function is a continuous function that fulfills the following requirement for every positive integer n: \n\n Γ(n)=(n−1)!\n\nSo you can calculate the factorial of any real number X by calculating Γ(x+1). ",
"With many mathematical concepts, you often start out with a simple definition, then extend it to handle more complicated situations.\n\nFor example, subtraction was once only defined when the first number as greater than or equal to the second. They some one invented negative numbers, and the definition was extended.\n\nIn the same way, factorial used to just be about integers, then someone extended the idea by inventing the gamma function."
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6hfhrw | with television, and more recently the internet, are dialects being reduced? | It seems a people that share a common language would gradually learn a single dialect as that dialect was seen as the authoritative one and was made widely and easily available. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6hfhrw/eli5_with_television_and_more_recently_the/ | {
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"I'll add, going to college in the south, many journalism majors had to take speach/diction classes in an attempt to learn \"news english\" and diminish, though rarely get rid of their accent",
"Possibly. And while /u/Bythnia is correct to say that there are many, many dialects still being spoken, there are still fewer dialects than there used to be, and the differences between those that survive are less than they used to be.\n\nMass communication certainly does have the effect of gradually ironing out differences in dialects. Back in Chaucer's day, the 14th century, dialects in different parts of England were mutually almost unintelligible.\n\nWriting about 150 years after that, William Caxton told the story of some merchants from the north of England forced to wait near London for a favourable wind to get them to the Netherlands. They go to a tavern, where one of them orders \"eggs\", to which the landlady replied that she didn't speak \"French\". In the southern dialect, the word was \"eyren\".\n\nCaxton, of course, was famous for his printing press, and it was the spread of printing that started the process of standardizing the language: books could be cheaply mass-produced, and were written in a way that could hopefully be understood by most English-speakers. A mass-produced book could be sent to all parts of the country so everyone was getting the same texts, and so the Middle English of Chaucer gradually gave way to the Early Modern English of Shakespeare, shedding dialectical differences in the process.\n\nThat was an early form of mass communication: modern forms are continuing the process. Many dialects have died out completely. When people say they speak \"American English without an accent\", what they mean is that they speak a dialect called General American, derived from a number of dialects originally spoken in the Midwest and used by newscasters in the early days of radio and TV (this happened because Midwesterners migrated to California to escape the Midwestern Dust Bowl of the 1930s).\n\nAnother factor today is increased mobility: whereas our great-grandparents likely stayed in the towns they grew up in, these days we move around a lot more. This also has the effect of evening out the dialects.\n\nBut that's not to say dialects are going to disappear entirely. New dialects emerge all the time, but instead of staying in one geographical area, they spread very quickly. It appears as if dialects are less about where you live, and more about what social class you belong to and how old you are.\n\nAn example of this might be \"Valleyspeak\". This began as a dialect spoken mostly by young women in the San Fernando Valley in the 1980s, but through the power of various media -- Hollywood movies and a hit song by Frank Zappa -- it spread over much of the US and Canada, used primarily by young, wealthy women who valued materialism over intellect. This makes it a particular type of dialect called a \"sociolect\"."
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31riq2 | is uranium oxide heavier than the uranium that is mined from the ground? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/31riq2/eli5_is_uranium_oxide_heavier_than_the_uranium/ | {
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"That's an oddly specific question. \n\nFirst off, you probably mean denser, rather than heavier. After all, as we all now, a 1 kg of lead and a kg of feathers weight exactly the same.\n\nAnyway, the problem here is how you define the weight of uranium being mined from the ground. Specifically, what is uranium ore? Also, which Uranium oxide, there are 4 of them.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nAfter all, there are like a dozen ores containing Uranium. The most prominent of these is pitchblende, or Uranium dioxide. So, ..."
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2mnpd3 | how do they improve the graphics of a video game in a remastered version without having to go in and redo the entire thing? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2mnpd3/eli5_how_do_they_improve_the_graphics_of_a_video/ | {
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"They go in and redo all relevant parts of the entire thing.\n\nAn object in the game is assembled by the graphics card. It takes a wire-mesh and a picture and folds the picture over the wire mesh. You can easily replace the picture with something nicer (higher resolution) and without touching anything else, the game will now look better, having more details on the surface of the object.\n\nOf course, you can also replace the wire mesh with something more detailed and change the picture so it fits the new mesh. Now you have a more detailed shape.\n\nCombine the two (more detailed picture fitting a more detailed mesh) and you have a prettier game.\n\nSo far, you only changed \"assets\", that is data. Pictures. You havn't touched a single line of code. Your existing code works just the way it did before, it's simply processing different data. The new data might be more demanding to process, but your remastered game is targeted towards better hardware than the original game, so that's OK.\n\nNow for the next level.\n\nThe new hardware might know new tricks. New sorts of lighting and such. To use those, you actually have to change the code of the game, the executables. However, a game is not a big monolyth. The part that does the rendering gets to know what objects it should display where and how, and it does so. If you just change that part of the game's code, all you change is how it looks. The game-mechanics (did you hit the dude? did you crash the car?) are still completely unaffected.\n\nAnything more than that is more or less rewriting the whole thing. However, a good example for the stuff I've talked about above is Skyrim. [Here](_URL_0_) is a comparison video that actually does side-by-side of unmodded and modded to have more detailed textures, (possibly) some new meshes and new DirectX9 postprocessing added to the game."
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3s4s26 | what is going on with the myanmar elections? | I've heard reports all day that Aung San Suu Kyi's party is heading for a landslide victory, but this is *Myanmar* we're talking about, and she was previously a political prisoner. How in the hell is she winning?
Also, I read something about the military not giving up much of their power. Then why would they allow these elections? It's mind-boggling! And is Myanmar going to see actual change with Aung at the head? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3s4s26/eli5_what_is_going_on_with_the_myanmar_elections/ | {
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"Aung San Suu Kyi has always been popular in Burma. When she was first imprisoned, she won a landslide election. The military just don't like her proposed reforms.",
"She was a political prisoner just the vary fact that she was loved by her people and they see her as the only trustworthy person to lead them for the better future. So long as current government (current government consists of former military generals and elected themselves to form a government. NLD didn’t participate) plays fair there is no reason to believe that ASSK will not win landslide. That is given.\n\nMilitary government has promised to the world community that they will hold fair election and so far they are keeping that promise. Military reserve for 25% of the seat in the parliament and do not have to be elected by the public. The generals are being squeezed by all sides...even from the Chinese government. Besides current leaders are not in charge (or at least not the head of the state) when then military government cracking down on monks and students. If they decided they can wipe their hands clean and transfer the power back to the people. That it --if they want it. I for myself will not celebrate the outcome of the election yet until i see the official transfer ceremony. And of course ASSK can lead to the right path. We believe that."
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30iq2f | if the usa consistently ranks so far behind other nations in education, why can't we just study the top 3 and copy whatever it is they're doing so well? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/30iq2f/eli5_if_the_usa_consistently_ranks_so_far_behind/ | {
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"Korea and Finland often score well on international education studies, but they differ from the US in that, 1) The US has a federal system where education is primarily the responsibility of the 50 states who have different budgets and priorities, 2) The US is much more diverse, both racially and economically, than those countries, and simply put, what works in the suburbs of Boston doesn't work in inner city Los Angeles, and 3) our population is so massive compared to the rest of developed nations that the scale of massive education reform makes it incredibly difficult. I agree with you, I wish we would do that, but we have some unique and incredibly difficult hurdles in the way. ",
"The more developed area of the country do quite well, but the numbers are brought down by poor/unruly areas where kids are brought up in bad environments and have no force in their life driving them to be good in school. We spend more than anyone on education, but there are places where money doesn't matter, because the resources aren't used.",
"Google the correlation of poverty and education rankings. It isn't that Americans are dumb, we are just too poor. A lot of other countries don't have the wage gap the states does where the 1% of top earners make the same as the entirety of the other 99%. Fix this issue where people are not destitute and you'll see education grow rapidly",
"Comparing the US to Northern European countries is like comparing a taco salad to apples.\n\nCountries with 10% of the population and almost zero diversity do not belong in a comparison with the US.\n\nThe system of a homogenous, small population does not fit a heterogeneous, huge population.\n\nYou can take this logic and apply it to Healthcare and Government as well.\n\nSaying \"Finland's healthcare is great, let's just copy theirs\" is an asinine statement when applied to the US.",
"\"why can't we just study the top 3 and copy whatever it is they're doing so well?\"\n\nTurns out whatever it is they're doing is \"have a Korean populace.\"",
"The bigger the ship, the harder it is to turn. ",
"The USA government would rather spend our money on weapons.",
"Don't know but they ought to take a good few billion out the military funding and us it for education and making universities cheaper for everyone",
"Probably because it would mean getting rid of Sports in High School :D\n\nI'm pretty sure none of the top ranked nations spend mega-$$$$ building football stadiums, basketball arenas and the like. The High School stadium in my town would rival many college football stadiums :|\n\nSadly, top testing scores don't bring in the $$$$ like a top rated football team does. Since it's all about the $ these days, you can guess what is more important to a School District. ",
"Not to mention in some countries that out score us, they have longer school years and fewer holiday breaks. It's absurd the amount of time our kids DONT spend in class. ",
"Educating their citizens is not the top concern of a war-driven state.",
"I would like to know what they other countries do with failing students. Do they kick them out and only allow successful students or do they have a special program or intervention for them?\n",
"So, I'm going to copy and paste the answer I gave when this question was asked on another thread. TL;DR - educational comparisons are meaningless because of the different situational contexts between us and the \"top nations\": \n\nFirst of all, American students don't score worse than international children when you control for socioeconomic status. While China and other countries pick and choose students that sit for tests that do international comparisons, America tests everybody. It's been shown by more than one study that when you test students from similar economic backgrounds, well-off kids in America score identically to the well-off kids in Shanghai, Tokyo, and the like. Poor students in rural China aren't kicking the ass of well-off Massachusetts students on these tests. The oft-repeated headline of \"America is failing in international comparisons!\" is mostly a misnomer.\n\nSecondly, the countries that are often cited as doing better or the basis of comparison - such as Scandinavian countries (Finland, especially) and Japan - are far less heterogenous than we are. If you have a mostly similar population with a moderate to high standard of living, those students will literally be \"easier to teach.\" More parents will be on board, resources will be distributed more fairly, etc. Another note about our heterogenous population - much of the money spent on American education is spent on special education programs and teaching English as a second language. It is amazing and a civil right that we guarantee a free public education no matter what your needs, but staffing the educators, researchers, and social workers to educate students with our needs is considerably high. It's not a given in other countries that you will receive a free quality education if you have special needs of any kind. The fact that we do this is necessary but expensive, and students learning English or with special needs aren't going to test as well.\n\nFinally, as the Atlantic just announced, over 51% of our students are now living under the poverty line. It's been documented that poverty literally changes your brain. Paying for the wraparound services (social workers, after-school services, tutors, and the like) to attempt to mitigate this isn't cheap.\n\nTL;DR it isn't actually true that we do \"worse\" when you control for socioeconomic factors; we educate students with special needs or who don't speak English as a second language, we're more heterogenous than other countries, and more of our kids are in poverty.\n\nAs an aside, the international hand-wringing dates to 1983, when the Cold War-era Reagan administration published a scare paper called \"A Nation At Risk\", warning that our \"bad schools\" were tantamount to those pesky Reds bombing us. Reagan (and later George HW and later George W) used the brouhaha this paper generated to justify education \"reform\", which has resulted in some good but also created our laser-like focus on standardized testing as the end-all be-all of educational \"success.\" Source - teacher with various master's degrees on this very topic; research by Diane Ravitch, Gloria Billings, et al\n\n",
"As a teacher I can tell you the two main factors.\n\n1. Homogenization of the student body. Thanks to Bush's \"No child left behind\" We stick all the kids from those with pretty severe learning disabilities to the strait A student in the same room together and tell the teacher educate them all. The underachievers drag everyone else down. The point being is that people of different starting intelligence levels and/or willingness to work should be taught in different ways and grouped separately to maximize their learning. If I'm trying to teach a kid who can barely speak English, side by side with a kid who can barely mentally comprehend what I'm talking about, side by side with an average kid, well that average kid is probably going to get an underwhelming education. I don't blame Bush though, this was something that started even when I was kid, he just continued the policy down the same track it had been going for years.\n\n2. We now hold the teachers highly accountable and let the kids get away with being lazy. As a teacher, to fail a student means tons of paperwork and having to strongly defend your decision with logs showing repeated attempts to get the student to come to do their work. This is simply the way the laws are set up. This kind of attitude by the government means its easier for teachers to just pass kids on through, especially for the lower grade levels. Then they hit high school and have never been held accountable and never have had to learn anything.",
"Education requires more than providing quality education. It requires that students and parents also contribute. \n\nThug culture is popular in the US and promotes stupidity. Unfortunately any attempt to curb it is labeled racist or censorship. ",
"There is evidence that when you compare apples to apples, the US doesn't actually do worse. Factor out impoverished kids based on free or reduced lunch program enrollment in both countries and the US generally does better than Finland, for example.\n\nAlso, you can get a better education in the US than you can in Finland, if you have money. In Finland's system, you're probably going to get the same treatment everywhere. In America if you're a good student, you might be able to go to a magnet school or a private school if you have vouchers and get a much better education. Furthermore, we have some of the most prestigious colleges in the world. Finland doesn't really.",
"Wouldn't help. The US knows what it needs to do to fix the education problems it has. The problem is motivation. The wealthy that control the levers of power in government don't benefit from a more educated populace. They send their kids to better private schools and those kids become leaders. The rest of the country remains at a disadvantage because it's education sucks. Wealthy people want a stupid populace. And when they need educated people they issue H1-B visas and import Indian nationals paying them as little as possible. Welcome to the USA!",
"Other countries also filter their students onto different paths at a much earlier age. In Germany they take kids out of a traditional \"diploma\" track during middle school and put them into vocational schools. They then do not use these students test scores when comparing them to the rest of the world.",
"The problem is the rankings for education is not objective and are primarily bullshit numbers made up by teacher's unions or special interest groups pushing one type of education reform over another. They give more made up points to one specific type of reform one country or state has over another. ",
"That would trigger the \"Not Invented Here\" reflex.",
"Speaking as an American teacher... Study after study shows that American teachers are forced to teach more classes and students. I teach 140 students a day with one 45 minute prep period to grade, plan, call home, collaborate with peers, research, and other tasks. The way I see it ”reform\" is doomed to failure until teachers are given breathing room and they turn off the assembly line method. Most teachers that I know want to improve and differentiate instruction but frequently can't due to the breakneck pace. I commonly have classes in the 30s that are 50-60% IEP, with 2-4 English language learners with the remainder being grade level or higher....45 min later I repeat...."
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7s547c | the difference between leasing and financing | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7s547c/eli5_the_difference_between_leasing_and_financing/ | {
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"When you lease a car you pay a monthly fee for a set number of months (and usually some extra fees as well) and at the end of the lease you return the car to the dealer.\n\nWhen you finance a car you are actually purchasing it. You put a down payment on the car, and then pay a monthly bill until the whole price of the car (plus interest) is paid. At the end you own the car.\n\nExtra: It is almost never a good idea to finance through a dealership. Your own bank or credit union will give you a line of credit with *much* better terms 99% of the time.",
"A lease is a way to avoid paying taxes.\n\nThe bank retains the ownership of the object (say, a car). You pay monthly fees for the usage of the car and then have an option to buy it at the end of the lease for an agreed upon price (could be $1).\n\nWhile you are paying the fees you can deduct them from your income when accounting for profits. It counts as costs of doing business. When you eventually buy the car after several years its value is much less than the original purchase \"price\" so it doesn't add much to the value of the company.\n\nIf you just bought the car you could not account for it as an expense because the value of your company grows as it now owns a car. You aren't losing anything, just transforming money into a car of the same value.\n\nIt's different in every country but the underlying idea is the same everywhere. There is no real difference between the two, only in the legalities."
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3b1vgp | why would any country ally themselves with north korea? | It just seems like a bad idea when they're a small country but the whole world is somewhat against them already. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3b1vgp/eli5_why_would_any_country_ally_themselves_with/ | {
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"Most of North Korea's \"alliances\" are hold overs from the Cold War. While relations between Communist nations was far from perfect (China and Vietnam went too war), they needed to at least appear to be friendly for that whole \"international workers of the world\" thing. Also, North Korea's atrocities were not all that uncommon with other Communist nations (look up Mao's \"Great Leap Forward\" if you want too lose your lunch).\n\nNorth Korea was able too use China's and the USSR's hostility for the other to increase the aid it received. After the wall fell, China has really been it's only true ally. Many in China see North Korea as their East Germany. If North Korea falls, it would cause a LOT of problems for China (a huge refugee crisis, South Korea getting a border with China, US military bases being positioned right on their border), but lately even China seems to of grown tired of North Korea's bullshit, cutting of everything but agricultural aid.",
"* Please remember when thinking about North Korea that the word \"communist\" is a term frequently used when referring to nations that have been denied democratic government by external forces (often the USA, China & Russia during the cold war) and where dictators have filled the vacuum. \n\n\n* The dictators often call themselves communist to unite the people in the country so that they can gain power and opposition to the external interference. (Incidentally this often allows communism to be demonised by the capitalist-inclined forces). Claiming to be communist during the cold war also garnered the support of the dominant communist regimes.\n\n\n* To add to the confusion countries such as Russia and China are increasingly adopting capitalism and global competition as their way forward and no longer have an appetite for defending nations just because they call themselves communist.\n\n\n* The news items you read will often focus on destroying communism and associate the regime of Kim Jong-un as communist in order to bring on board a wider global opposition to the country and ultimately crush a regime and win the remnant of this WW2 and the Cold War conflict.\n\n\n* North Korea needs help but not to support the existing regime and not just to give a victory to rampant capitalism. If countries expressing their desire to help N.Korea really want to help they would support N.Koreans to remove the dictator and allow the N.Korean people democratic choice rather than only permitting them to succumb to the powers that created the Korean situation in the first place. "
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3d34xy | what tools would scientists use, theoretically speaking, to actually build nanotechnology? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3d34xy/eli5_what_tools_would_scientists_use/ | {
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"Bacteria. There's actually some interesting research going on about constructing small parts by using colored lights on specific species. Depending on the light used, the bacteria move in different ways. If you make the parts, you can use the bacteria to assemble them, at least theoretically.\n\nTo build the parts, you use plastic that hardens when exposed to light, and then filter light through a mesh that has holes cut into it in the shape of the parts you want.\n\nIt's crude so far, but with refinement it's a viable strategy for building nanotechnology.\n\nEDIT: It's early days yet, but [here's](_URL_0_) an easy to understand link about it."
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1m1bqr | why wont nuclear weapons have an effect on an incoming asteroid? | I understand the fact that a nuclear weapon, or any other measure that employs a direct effect on an Asteroid will not stop the asteroid's energy, as most of the energy will come from the asteroids speed.
But would the effect of a nuclear weapon exploding on or near the asteroid not degrade the asteroid as a whole? For a random rock to be frozen to near 0 in interstellar space to possibly thousands of degrees back to near 0 in a few seconds, would this not damage the structural integrity of the asteroid as a whole?
For arguments sake if an Asteroid is 1 km wide and a is broken up into 1000 1 metre wide pieces all travelling on the same trajectory, in a clustered group, it has pretty much the same energy when it hits Earth correct?
Now how far apart would those separate rocks need to be blasted away from each other before physics treats them as separate impacts on the atmosphere rather then 1 shotgun type blast? Hypothetically If enough nuclear weapons were detonated would the shockwaves not eventually turn the asteroid into a fast moving cloud of dust.
Always wondered this, thanks. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1m1bqr/eli5why_wont_nuclear_weapons_have_an_effect_on_an/ | {
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"Nuclear Weapons work by delivering massive amounts of energy into the area where they are targeted. That energy causes massive heat, wind, explosive force, etc... And the end result is mass destruction. However, in space, there isn't any atmosphere, ground, or really anything for all that energy to be transferred into. This means that a nuclear weapon's energy would be dissipated much less effectively than it would if it was used on earth. ",
"Oh they do have an impact. But its relatively irrelevant for 2 main reasons:\n\n1) Vacuum of space removes the pressure wave of a bomb/explosion , and that is the most destructive thing of a bomb, making them less efficient in a vacuum.\n\n2) The most force of anything in space comes from its relative speed and the heat released from the friction of an impact. Not as much from its mass and density. Changing the speed/direction of something fast/massive in space is trickier, or at least it takes longer. Splitting up an asteroid will just spread the same amount of impact force over a larger area. An explosion would barely change the direction, but it would surely make it more chaotic."
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2n0tks | why is it that some words are not capitalized (ex. the, to, a, an) in title of books or movies? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2n0tks/eli5_why_is_it_that_some_words_are_not/ | {
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"[Rule 16A](_URL_0_)\n\nBelow are the basic rules when it comes to whether or not something is capitalized in a title:\n\n* Capitalize the title's first and last word.\n\n* Capitalize verbs, including all forms of the verb to be (is, are, was, etc.).\n\n* Capitalize all pronouns, including it, he, who, that, etc.\n* Capitalize not.\n\n* **Do not capitalize a, an, or the unless it is first or last in the title.**\n\n* Do not capitalize the word and, or, or nor unless it is first or last in the title.\n\n* Do not capitalize the word to, with or without an infinitive, unless it is first or last in the title.\n",
"I'm guessing it's because those words aren't important to the title. When you're looking at a title, you're often going to learn a little about the book/movie/song/whatever. You don't need to know as much about \"and\" or \"to\". ",
"A, an, and the are a kind of word called \"articles.\" Articles are special adjectives that help us keep track of the nouns we use. For example, \"The dog\" is different from \"a dog.\" A dog could refer to any dog, or any dog in a specific group of dogs, but \"the dog\" is referring to a specific one. \n\nIn a conversation or a sentence in English, words like that are incredibly important. In a title, though, they don't matter as much. Emphasizing them would just take attention away from the words in a title which are important. When the rules for capitalizing titles came together, it would have been bad to just say that \"unimportant\" words could be left uncapitalized because how do you objectively decide which words are appropriate? So they selected certain kinds of words, and articles are the group of words most people would agree are least important.\n\n\"To\" is usually a preposition, and while it's less strictly enforced and not everyone agrees, prepositions are considered less important either. Prepositions are words that are used to express certain kinds of relationships, and they generally lead to a phrase that gives more information. Your grade school descriptions of prepositions will say they're for questions like where things are or when things are happening, but let's face it, language is complicated and sometimes the way we're taught in school is a little simpler than it really is.\n\nPrepositions themselves aren't important either: it's the words that follow them that are important. Take the sentence, \"I'm going to the store.\" IF that were a title, it'd be *I'm Going to the Store.* Because \"to\" isn't important. If you say \"I'm Going Store,\" that would still make sense if you were Tarzan. The preposition itself is generally not important; it's the \"prepositional phrase\" that follows it. \n\nI've seen some textbooks say to capitalize prepositions, or to capitalize really long prepositions of more than so many letters, or to capitalize prepositions that are used in a certain way. Since society is getting more laid back about grammar rules in titles, my suggestion for you is to pick one interpretation of the rules and be consistent for more creative things you make, and to look up the strictest possible version of the rules on a site with .edu in the address if you're titling something for class or business. \n\nTLDR: They're not capitalized because they're all words that are parts of speech that are generally less important, and people writing titles want attention on the more important kinds of words. A word being unimportant isn't enough; you have to \"prove\" it's unimportant with its part of speech. "
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1vz2s1 | american football. the positions, the rules, basically a beginners guide. | I'm a pretty new football fan. When I watch, I have a lot of questions that the commentators don't really clarify, like what the role of each position is, or what the audibles mean, or some of the more confusing flags that get thrown. I'd love an easy to read, bare bones guide. Thanks. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1vz2s1/eli5_american_football_the_positions_the_rules/ | {
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"r/nfl would be my first stop they have a wiki guide.",
"1. The object of the game is to either carry or throw (and catch) the ball over the opposing team's goal line - called the \"end zone\". All of the strategy of the game is devoted to fooling the defending team so as to get the ball past their players. Obviously speed and athleticism play a huge role, but without the element of surprise it's nigh impossible to win against a competent team. \n2. Scoring. Running the ball into the end zone or catching the ball in the end zone results in a touchdown, which is worth 6 points. After scoring a touchdown, the team gets a chance to kick the ball through the uprights: called a point conversion or an extra point, this is worth 1 point. A typical touchdown therefore results in 7 points. The team can also try for a two-point conversion: instead of kicking the ball, they run or pass for another goal, a risky move worth 2 points. Finally, a \"field goal\" is when instead of trying for a touchdown at all, the attacking team kicks a ball through the uprights once they are within \"field goal range.\" A field goal is worth 3 points. There's also a rare move called a \"safety\" (2 points) where the offensive ball carrier is tackled within his own end zone. There are a couple of other ultra-rare scoring methods, but those five are the ones you're most likely to see. \n3. The game begins with a kickoff: the defending team kicks the football to the offensive team, who will attempt to return it for as many yards as they can. \n4. The offensive team gets four attempts (called downs) to advance the ball at least 10 yards down the field and/or score. They can either carry the ball and run, or they can pass (throw) the ball downfield to another player. If they advance ten yards, they get a \"first down,\" and the count is reset. If they score a goal or a field goal, they will again kickoff the ball for the defending team to receive. If they fail on the fourth attempt, the ball changes possession and the opposing team gets four attempts (downs). \n5. Passing. If the offensive team elects to throw the ball, there are limits. Most importantly, the player passing the ball must be behind the \"line of scrimmage\" if he's going to pass it forward. If a player crosses the line of scrimmage and then passes the ball forward, the violation is called a \"forward lateral.\" Don't ask me why, that term doesn't make sense in any language. Defensive players can block a pass with their hands or tackle the passer (usually the quarterback), but they cannot tackle or grab the receiver before the receiver catches the ball. It's called \"pass interference\", another violation.\n6. Punting. Typically on a fourth down, rather than risk turning over possession of the ball close to their own goal line, the offensive team will have a kicker punt the ball as far as possible down the field, forcing the defenders to catch it and try to make up as much yardage as possible. \n7. Timing. Games are divided into two 30-minute halfs and four 15-minute quarters. The ball changes possession at the end of each ~~quarter~~ half (by kickoff), regardless of how many downs the offensive team has remaining. Halftime is an extended break that often includes some kind of entertainment (marching band in high school, Nicki Minaj in the pros). There are also stops after every down, and fairly frequent time-outs while teams review their strategies. \n8. Players. The offensive team consists of a quarterback (the main play-caller and the guy who usually passes the ball or hands it off to runners). Running backs (halfbacks and fullbacks) are the fleet-of-foot but burly guys who take the ball from the quarterback and try to run with it. Receivers (tight ends, wide receivers) are the guys running up the field, often on pre-established patterns, to catch a pass if the quarterback elects to throw the ball. The humongous guy on the line of scrimmage who hikes the ball up through his crotch to the quarterback - who spends an inordinate amount of the game with his hands up in there like a deeply confused obstetrician - that's the center. Four offensive linemen, two on each side, make up the rest of the offense. The defensive team consists of linemen, linebackers, tackles and safeties, in various configurations. There are 11 players on each team, and penalties for having an extra man on the field.\n8. Following on the last point, you can see that there's a lot of stopping and starting in football. In fact, with the constant play stoppages, the average football game turns out to have [only 11 minutes of time](_URL_0_) during which the ball is actually in play. The rest of the time is filled with television commercials. Yay, America! \n\nEDIT: added players and passing rules. \n",
"This is a big task and will require a big post, so bear with the wall of text about to follow. I'll break up the basics into four subdivisions: lingo, rules, points, positions.\n\n\nLingo-\n\nOffense- when your team is in possession of the ball.\nDefense- when your team is not in possession of the ball.\nSpecial Teams- any scenario which involves kicking the ball (see below)\nTurnover- when possession of the ball switches sides (can happen in numerous ways)\nFumble- losing the ball through just dropping it while moving around (possibly due to being hit), may be recovered by your own team or the opposing team (resulting in a turnover)\nTouchdown- the primary method of scoring, where you advance the ball into the opponent's endzone\nExtra Point- the act of kicking the ball through the yellow uprights behind the endzone, directly following a touchdown \nTwo Point Conversion- a play in which a team may opt to replace their extra point kick for a play worth 2 points instead, also directly following a touchdown (there is advanced strategy in determining when to do this)\nField Goal- the act of kicking the ball through the uprights when not in an extra point setting (the 2nd most frequent method of aquiring points)\nSafety- the act of being tackled in your own endzone, resulting in 2 points to the opposing team, and them receiving the ball\nInterception- throwing a pass to someone on the opposing team, resulting in a turnover\n\nRules-\nThe object of the game is to score more points than the opposing team, through touchdowns, field goals, extra pts/two pt conversions, and safeties. NFL football is played with 4 quarters lasting 15 minutes each. The game begins with a coin toss to determine who gets the ball first and the other team will get the ball after halftime. One team will kickoff (everyone lines up and kicks the ball to the receiving team, who then will attempt to run as far upfield as possible without getting tackled). Then the \"drive\" begins. The offense and defense go onto the field, and the coaches call plays for them to execute. The plays are either \"runs\" (where a player will simply run with the ball as far as possible without getting tackled), or a \"pass\" play, in which a player, almost always the quarterback (to be described later) will throw the ball to a teammate, and after they catch it, they may run with it as far as possible. There is a lot of strategy in determining when to run or pass, and feel free to message me to learn about it. The offense has 4 \"downs\" to advance the ball 10 yards, otherwise the opposing team will pick it up wherever they left off. After they advance the ball 10 yards, they get a \"first down\" where the process starts again. Eventually, one of a few things will happen: the offense will score a touchdown, the defense will force a turnover (through either a fumble, or an interception, or the offense attempting to get a 1st down on 4th down and failing), the offense will kick a field goal, the defense will get a safety, or the offense will punt. It is very risky for the offense to attempt to get a 1st down on 4th down, as if they fail, the opposing team will get the ball where they are now, and it is advantageous to push the ball back as far away from your own endzone to minimize points scored against you. In most situations, if the offense is close to the defense's endzone (5-35 yards out), they will attempt a field goal. If they are within 5 yards, they may attempt a field goal, or occasionally just try for a touchdown, as even if they fail, the other team is very far away from their endzone. If the offense faces a 4th down from outside the opponents ~35 yard line, they will usually opt to punt. Punting consists of a punter (see below) drop-kicking the ball as far as possible, and the receiving team attempting to run with it afterwards. This is done to push the line of scrimmage (where the ball starts) as far away from their endzone as possible, and is very common on 4th down. Occasionally, particularly confident coaches will \"go for it\" on 4th down, even if they are outside of field goal range, as they have faith in their offenses to continue the drive. This is very risky and is usually only attempted on 4th and 1 or less (1 yard or less from the starting point to the 1st down marker). This is essentially how the game is played, and each team attempts to score more points than the other.\n\nPoints-\n\nTouchdowns are worth 6, Field goals 3, Safeties 2, Two point conversions 2, and Extra points 1\n\nPositions-\nOffense-\nAt the beginning of every play, you will see a bunch of large dudes almost on the ground facing each other. This is the offensive and defensive line. They are refered to as linemen. Generally they are very large and strong, but kind of slow. The offensive line's job is to either push the defensive line out of the way and block on running plays, and to protect the quarterback on passing plays while he finds someone to throw the ball to. Offensive linemen cannot be the first person to touch the ball, they are \"ineligable receivers\". There is a speciality player that will generally line up right next to the offensive line on their side called a Tight End. Tight ends are usually slightly smaller and faster than OL, and also are better at catching. The TE's job is to be an extra lineman on running (and sometimes passing) plays, however he CAN catch the ball, and will usually hang close to the quarterback as a last resort to throw to if he is in trouble. The Quarterback is kinda the captain of the offense. He relays the plays to the rest of the team from the coach, and if they are experienced, will usually be given audible calling power (the power to change which play they are running, based upon how the defense is lined up). The quarterback is generally tall, as he needs to be able to see over the large offensive line, and is hopefully smart (helps with calling/changing plays), and definitely needs to be able to throw the ball accurately and pretty far. On running plays, the quarterback will give the ball to the running back (see below), or will run with it himself. On passing plays, he will throw the ball to a wide receiver (see below), a running back, or a tight end, or he could still run with it himself if he doesn't feel like throwing it. Running backs are usually pretty muscular dudes but also pretty fast, their main job is either to run with the ball on running plays, or on passing plays to either help protect the quarterback or catch passes himself. They line up behind or next to the quarterback. There are two types, fullbacks and halfbacks. Fullbacks are generally bigger and slower and are used more for blocking, halfbacks are generally smaller and faster and used for running and catching. Finally there are wide receivers. These are generally tall, skinny, fast guys with very good catching ability. They line up outside of the line, generally close to the sidelines, and often alone. Their job on running plays is to try and block a defensive back (see below), or on passing plays to run around and attempt to seperate themselves from the defenders to catch the ball and eventually try and score. They have pre-planned \"routes\" that they will run to attempt to get open (away from the defenders), which are coordinated with the quarterback so he knows where they are going. \n\nDefense-\nThe defensive line is the defensive side of the big dudes you see all bunched together. Their job is to control the line so that the running backs dont get past them or the quarterback cant throw the ball because they tackled him first (this is called a sack). Generally, the ones on the inside (defensive tackles) are bigger and stronger, whereas the two on the end are called defensive ends and are smaller and faster (but make no mistake they are still big lol). Right behind them there are the linebackers, these are medium sized guys who are very strong and fast, overall very athletic. Their job is to plug up any holes which develop in the defense through the offense's blocking scheme. They will often get the most tackles of running backs, occasionally will \"blitz\" (a pre-designed rush of the quarterback no matter what happens on the play) with the intent of getting a sack or stopping the running back before he reaches the line. They sometimes will cover receivers trying to catch the ball as well. The last group of defenders are defensive backs. These are the fastest of the defenders, and their main job is to defend against the pass, whereas, arguably, the rest of the defense is concerned about stopping running plays. The DBs are split into two groups, safeties (not to be confused with the point opportunity), and cornerbacks. Cornerbacks are in the corners of the defense (duh lol), and generally are all the way on the sidelines, just like the wide recieivers. They will either stop running plays which run close to the sidelines, or will more often just run with the receiver they are lined up on, trying to prevent him from catching the ball. Safeties are the last line of defense, and line up about 12 yards away from the line of scrimmage and in the center of the field. Their job is to stop running plays that somehow get past the linebackers, and to guard against deep passes, as since there is no one behind them, if a receiver gets behind them and catches the ball, there is a good chance he will score a touchdown (very bad for the defense). Their number one job is to ensure that all of the action happens in front of them, and not behind them, so often times they will back up immediately if it is not a running play. \n\nSpecial teams-\nKickers are responsible for the opening kickoff, and also for kicking extra points and field goals\nPunters are responsible for punting\nReturn men are the guys who catch the kicks and run with them. Often they are either WRs or DBs and are super fast and elusive.\n\nAny advanced questions feel free to PM me, I love football lol"
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1xkafd | why do musicians place a rug under their instruments? and how does it improve their sound? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xkafd/eli5_why_do_musicians_place_a_rug_under_their/ | {
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"Rugs absorb sound waves, meaning there is no echo that will mess with how the music sounds. ",
"Drummer here.\nIt keeps my set from moving while I play.",
"So many answers, but they all neglect one thing: a consistent playing surface. It's pretty much safe to assume that what you'll be playing on is either hard (like a wooden stage, a podium, a portable stage). or \"soft\" (out in a field somewhere. So, just bring a sheet of plywood and put a piece of carpet on top). You can rest instruments on it without having to worry.\n\nEither way, it's wise to bring a rug / carpet along for all of the reasons previously mentioned.\n\nedit: clarity"
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9zq2o3 | why is going bald (balding) a thing? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9zq2o3/eli5_why_is_going_bald_balding_a_thing/ | {
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"It is a bug in our evolution that does not limit reproduction and thus is perpetuated. \n\nOver time (decades usually) testosterone collects in and damages hair follicles to the point that they no longer work. "
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6wpzpn | how can some animals go without eating for months and months but i'm starving 5 hours after a meal (exaggeration)? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6wpzpn/eli5_how_can_some_animals_go_without_eating_for/ | {
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"They can slow their digestive systems for stuff like winter because evolution has given them that ability since they don't eat as much as you.",
"You can go for a month without food as well. Just because the animal is surviving doesn't mean it isn't feeling hunger.\n\n"
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bcq762 | how shell games work | We’ve all seen those street tricks where the guy has three cups and hides the ball in one. The build up seems easy, he lets you win a couple so you get cocky. But how does he trick you with the last big pay off?
I just fell for it big time and I need an explanation so I feel better. I feel like it involves the five or six people clustered around him. Like are they in on it too? Or am I just dumb? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bcq762/eli5_how_shell_games_work/ | {
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"The most common trick to it is to pass the item from under one cup to another as they both pass behind the third.\n\nAnother is for them to use easy, visible patterns for the first two shuffles, then throw a much faster and complicated one on the third.",
"He is simply able to distract you and quicly swich the ball under the near cup. If you are able to see the swich then you might have a chanche but usually it is so smooth that it is iperceptivle",
"it's called a \"con\" because he's taking advantage of your confidence. did you yourself win those first games, or did you see someone else do it? assuming you were in an actual confidence game, anyone you see winning is in on the scam and trying to make you feel like you can win. you will never, ever, win the real game.\n\nthere's a variety of ways to get the mark to play the game, like the above, but ultimately it's just a magic trick. the guy uses sleight of hand to switch the ball to a different cup. when done correctly, these tricks are impossible for the human eye to detect. \n\nif you get lucky and pick the right cup, there are ways to switch it off the winning cup. i dunno how they work for shell game, but for three card monte (a similar game where there's three bent cards, two jacks and a queen) the dealer will take one of the cards you didn't pick and use it to flip the chosen card over. if you somehow picked the right one (which the dealer always knows the position of) then he'll use sleight of hand to swap the chosen card with the flipping card, and again this is impossible to detect if done right.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nso on one hand, i guess you can feel better because it's not a failure of your eyesight; the game is impossible to win. on the other hand, you got played by one of the oldest tricks in the world (literally two thousand years old), so..."
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edchje | how do hotel booking websites like trivago or expedia work? why are their prices cheaper than when you book through the hotel? | Is this a scam? Or are these websites legit? If so how are they so cheap? Does anyone have experience with booking through websites like this? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/edchje/eli5_how_do_hotel_booking_websites_like_trivago/ | {
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"I have booked through these sites often, no problem. I did have one hotel tell me that the advantage of booking through the hotel is the perks/upgrades. There’s not much they can do to upgrade your room if you go through the booking sites.",
"The websites are legit and they get paid commission by the hotels, because they are handling millions of bookings their administration and advertising costs per booking are tiny in comparison to the hotels so they can have cheaper prices.",
"They are all owned by the same 2-3 big companies. If you have a hotel, unless it is something world renowned then its the best way really to get found. They take a cut of around 10% and always push hotels to offer deals to the consumer and many hotels have to oblige to get customers. They used to make hotels not give any cheaper price than what you listed with them but that was recently outlawed in europe, not sure if that makes it global due to the fact their head offices are mainly in europe.",
"About 8 years ago I worked for Booking. Hotels use these platforms to be found by you and me. The fee hotels paid at the time would vary in between 10 and 20%. You can see it as being the hotel's marketing budget.\n\nThe reason why prices were lower there was because in the agreement it was written than nowhere else could prices be cheaper than at Booking.\n\nAdding on to that the pricing at Booking would be decided in real time and therefore could sometimes be much cheaper than in the hotel's own website because they might not have that flexible pricing capability."
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2ggell | if oscar pistorius was found not guilty of murder, the crime he was being charge with, how was he found guilty of culpable murder, a completely different crime? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ggell/eli5_if_oscar_pistorius_was_found_not_guilty_of/ | {
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"he was found guilty of something that is similar to manslaughter. This means that through his negligence he caused the death of someone through what might be called an 'accident' but he did not intend to kill them. It also means that he could have prevented the death if only he didn't act in the stupid way he did. ",
"Laws vary based on locality, but in my state there is one charge, criminal homicide, which encompasses first degree murder, second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter. I'd imagine this is done to streamline the trial process, so that anyone accused of murder doesn't have to be charged with all four, and a person can't get off the hook entirely by putting a hole in the argument that it was premeditated.",
"Certain offences 'automatically' import lesser closely related offences when brought to trial. This usually involves offences that are really closely related in their nature. For example assault occasioning grievous bodily harm would usually automatically allow a court to also consider the lesser 'assault occasioning actual bodily harm' charge.\n\nWhen someone is indicted for Murder, the lesser homicide charges are 'automatically' brought in. There's no need to specifically charge the person with them.\n\nObviously this doesn't mean the person can be convicted of all of these offences for the same incident. It just means that if the more serious charge isn't satisfied, the court can go on to consider the lesser ones.\n\nThe reason they are automatic? It's generally common sense. Murder/Manslaughter/culphomicide are all based on the same offence element (killing someone). It makes sense that an accused must avoid conviction from all those offences when they kill someone."
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75qc3f | why do we give final meals? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/75qc3f/eli5_why_do_we_give_final_meals/ | {
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"I'm pretty sure it's based on an old superstition that if you gave them a last meal they wouldn't come back and haunt you but then again that could be a completely wrong thing I saw on a tv show once who the fuck knows at this point ",
"Their origin dates back to European superstition, it was to prevent the [inmate's ghost from haunting](_URL_0_) the executioners. \n\n > In medieval Europe many believed that well-fed prisoners could be executed without fear of their returning as ghosts. The quality of the final meal was also believed to influence the likelihood of their doing so. If the food and drink were of the best quality it was believed that prisoners would be less likely to haunt their executioners. If the meals were poor, many believed prisoners would return as malevolent spirits bent on tormenting those involved in their deaths.\n\nThey aren't universal, Texas for example doesn't do them anymore, and there are restrictions. Many states place a limit on the money that can be spent on a final meal (ranging from Florida's $40 to Oklahoma's $15). ",
"Ritualistic origin aside, today it separates the violence of the crime from the violence of the punishment. \n\n\n",
"It's an act of compassion meant to symbolize that we are merciful people, despite the fact that we are ending someone's life.\n\nIt's not a reward for the criminal, it's a symbol for the executioners.",
"Last meals aren't about what the person on death row did. Last meals are about not taking for granted how serious taking a life is.\n\nA small mercy reminds us they're a person and their death affects other people. \n\nThe meal is a symbol meant for the people sobbing for the murderer on the other side of the window- as compassion for their loss. \n\nAnd for the people who end his life- as a reminder of the finality and cost."
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kvtri | why my eyesight gets worse as i get older and what i can do to make it better | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/kvtri/eli5_why_my_eyesight_gets_worse_as_i_get_older/ | {
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"There is a lens in your eye that is very flexible. This lens is used to create a focus point. When you grow older this lens becomes more stiff and slower so when you focus om stuff far away or close by, the lens is not flexible enough to create the focus point, hence blurry vision.\n\nTo exercise your lens (I think you spend some time in front of the computer?) look at stuff outside the window and focus on things far away to stretch your lens. I do, however, not really if this works but that is an advice I've heard about.",
"There is a lens in your eye that is very flexible. This lens is used to create a focus point. When you grow older this lens becomes more stiff and slower so when you focus om stuff far away or close by, the lens is not flexible enough to create the focus point, hence blurry vision.\n\nTo exercise your lens (I think you spend some time in front of the computer?) look at stuff outside the window and focus on things far away to stretch your lens. I do, however, not really if this works but that is an advice I've heard about."
]
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b4se1y | when my mouth waters, my spit tastes different from normal spit(if that actually makes sense). why is this happening? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b4se1y/eli5_when_my_mouth_waters_my_spit_tastes/ | {
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"Your salivary glands become overstimulated in anticipation of delicious food that your increased amount of saliva will help to digest. "
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8bcmrs | why it is illegal when traveling internationally to bring foods from one country to another, even though those same countries may trade (and sell) the very same foods with which it is illegal for you to travel? | Wouldn’t the trade regulations be the same for the food safety regulations? Or at least similar? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8bcmrs/eli5_why_it_is_illegal_when_traveling/ | {
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"Food being shipped can be carefully inspected and treated to avoid bringing in new parasites or diseases. It can also be quarantined for the length of time necessary to know if it brought in the hazards.\n\nFood you picked up at the local market and have in your luggage will not have gone through that same screening\n\nSince the quality and hazards of the food you are transporting cannot be known, it is safest for the destination country to prevent random unqualified individuals from importing it.",
"Food that is traded is inspected very carefully to prevent invasive species, viruses, parasites, and various other diseases and issues from being transmitted into the new country. Some countries also have special taxes on luxury goods (such as chocolate) that you owe if you bring the food across the border. ",
" > Wouldn’t the trade regulations be the same for the food safety regulations?\n\nSometimes, but anything that's imported is carefully inspected by food safety professionals to make sure that it's up to their country's standards and doesn't contain any foreign parasites, that it's been properly stored, etc. People who import and export know these standards and can make sure that it follows all of the standards.\n\nYour average person though doesn't have that knowledge and might not be taking that care. If you pick an apple in one country and bring it to another, it could have foreign pests or bacteria that an importer would have taken care of with pesticides. Since your apple was meant to be eaten locally, it might not have that treatment. So as a very cautious protection from stuff like that (and to avoid having to bring experts to check every bag coming into the country), they make you declare your items and may stop you from bringing it in. \n\nAnd of course, some goods like alcohol have their own import regulations and taxes to consider. If you're bringing in a small amount for personal consumption, they'll let it slide, but if you're importing a case of wine or something, you'll probably have to pay some import taxes on it.",
"Almost always, if your food is factory packaged, it will be allowed in, especially if it is still sealed. You may have to declare it, but the Pringles you buy in Mexico are not going to be seized on the US border.\n\nPart of the concern is invasive species. That banana you bought in Mexico might have some fruit flies on it. In Mexico, it might not be a problem, because there is a native predator that keeps them in check. But in the US, if there is no such predator, it can be a big problem.",
"My mum has brought food from Germany to Turkey and vice versa many times. There hasn't been an issue. So I think there are 'green zones' for certain countries or it depends on what and how much someone is bringing? "
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2ez7mm | when speaking to someone on a cell phone and you hear your own voice echoing back to you, what is causing that? | It happens to me alot and it makes me mumble my words because of the delayed feedback. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ez7mm/eli5_when_speaking_to_someone_on_a_cell_phone_and/ | {
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"On the other end, sound emitted from the person's phone is sent through their receiver (the sound loops back to you). This is why if you put two phones really close together and put them on speakerphone, you get a nasty feedback. The initial sound is cycled through both phones, amplifying each time (since its on speaker).\n\nThe mumbling thing is completely normal. Look up \"speech jammer\" if you want info on that."
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1lcscw | why don't loud motorcycles (i.e. harley davidson) get ticketed for noise violations? | If I blasted music in my car that loud, I'd almost certainly get pulled over and ticketed for violating noise ordinances. Yet it's not uncommon to hear a Harley blast through my neighborhood at two in the morning. Are there exceptions in the law? Is there a big motorcycle lobby? Or do cops just not care? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1lcscw/eli5_why_dont_loud_motorcycles_ie_harley_davidson/ | {
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"In order for the officer to have a basis for the ticketing that will stand up in court, they have to measure the noise level at a particular point, demonstrate the noise is from the vehicle in question, and measure the distance from the point to the vehicle in question.\n\nThis is complicated by the fact that the officer must have a device that is certified to perform this measurement, and must themselves be certified to operate the device.\n\nThis all costs money.\n\nIf the cost of the device + the cost of certifying it + the cost of the officer being certified + the cost of having the officer operate the device + the cost of having the officer testify + the cost of experts to testify about the device + the cost of prosecutor time / (the number of expected wins in court x the expected revenue from the ticket fines and fees) < = 1, then there is no financial justification to having the officer operate the device and ticket noise offenders.\n\nSo they don't."
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23yle3 | why does air heat up when compressed? what is happening when this occurs? | Ideally, I'm trying to wrap my mind around how an object falling to earth at high speed (falling from space, so easily above Mach 2) creates heat by compressing air. I tried searching and apologize if this has been asked, maybe my wording didn't find what I was looking for. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/23yle3/eli5_why_does_air_heat_up_when_compressed_what_is/ | {
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"Heat is the movement of molecules. The more they move in a given object/area, the \"hotter\" something is.\n\nImagine a box full of flies, buzzing around. You take one wall and move it inwards, like a booby trap. The flies still buzz around like normal, but because there's less space, there's more movement per (unit of volume) because there's less volume for the same amount of movement. Increased average amount of movement per volume is the definition of air (gas) temperature."
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9wvmft | why did we go from bc to ad? were the people back then aware of the change or was it something we labeled later on? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9wvmft/eli5_why_did_we_go_from_bc_to_ad_were_the_people/ | {
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"The numbering system we use today was put into use in the year 525 AD by the Christian church. All the years before that were made part of the AD/BC system retroactively. No one in the year 200 AD said \"hey, it's the year 200 AD.\" They numbered their years through other means, like the reign of the current Roman emperor or the founding of Rome itself, or other regional methods.",
"No one was aware; those distinctions were added in the 6th century - different cultures and different things periods measured time differently; this is just the way many people currently do it. Others have already given the correct definitions for AD (Anno domini) and BC (before Christ), so I'll just add that many historians now CE (common era; same as AD) and BCE (before common era; same as BC). It's a way to denote the time periods without explicit reference to Christianity.",
"Point of interest, there's still some academic division on this and it seems each scholar has their own opinion about it, it's becoming more common to see BCE (before common era) and CE (common era). The system still uses the same 0 as BC and AD. While 0 was supposed to center on the birth of Christ, they were off a few years (3 or 6...pretty sure it's 3 years off). I use BCE and CE because it better reflects the multicultural world and recognizes the mess of the Early Modern period in overwriting the diversity of calendar systems by the European calendar system. But, in the end, they are just letters before or after numbers.",
"4713 this year in Chinese culture and 5778 in israel, 2011 in Ethiopia bc they use the 13 month or lunar calendar! ",
"It's been pretty well explained already, but it's worth noting that there are still calendars that use other points of reference than the birth of Jesus. The Muslim calendar, for example, counts from Muhammad's flight from Mecca to Medina (called the *Hijra*, Arabic for \"migration\"), making the current year 1440. Jews use the Hebrew calendar, which measures from a point calculated as the creation of the world, this year being 5779. In Japan, traditionally, years are numbered according to the Emperor's reign - we are currently in the 30^th year of the Heisei Era - though the Common Era year is still used. You'll also notice that a lot of formal proclamations of the United States will be dated \"In the year of our Lord [AD/CE year] and of the independence of the United States [number of years since 1776]\""
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813qv7 | gills. just, everything about them. how? what? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/813qv7/eli5_gills_just_everything_about_them_how_what/ | {
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"Almost like inside out lungs. That are wet.\n\nGills have huge surface area because of lots of branches, folds, wrinkles, etc. \n\nGills also have lots of blood. All the blood. That's why they're red. \n\nTogether this means lots of blood gets to spread out along all that surface area and then CO^2 in the blood an dissolve into the water and O^2 in the water can dissolve into the blood (because both try to flow from an area of high concentration to lower concentration)",
"Gills work by flowing water over them to extract the oxygen. Theyre basically super thin membranes that allow the oxygen in the water to diffuse into the blood. That's why they look like many filaments, to maximize the surface area for this diffusion.\n\nNow, getting this water over the gills is the hard part. And there's 2 main strategies fish use. Ram ventilation and buccal pumping.\n\nRan ventilation is easy. You open your mouth and swim forward. Water flows into the mouth and over the gills. You have things that block the throat, preventing all that water from going into the stomach. This is efficient as it requires little work from you but only as long as you're swimming. If you stop water suddenly stops flowing over your gills and you suffocate. This is the one your stereotypical shark likes to use and some fish.\n\nBuccal pumping is a bit more complex, but same basic idea. You open your mouth which causes negative pressure. This brings water into the mouth. You close your mouth and muscles push the water out over the gills. This requires more work, operating all those muscles, but you don't have to move. So lots of your normal fish, sedentary sharks, skates, and rays like to use this method.\n\nIn either case the water and blood can flow countercurrently. An easy example water flows left to right, blood flows right to left. This is cool because instead of the water and blood reaching equilibrium as far as oxygen goes the water (which slowly loses oxygen) keeps running into blood with less oxygen in it."
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39j3w0 | if someone is blind from birth and drops acid, what do they experience? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/39j3w0/eli5_if_someone_is_blind_from_birth_and_drops/ | {
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"Psychidelic drugs alter your current sensory perceptions, so a blind person either way won't *see* anything, but they may feel or hear weird things."
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20plus | how can certain bacteria, or even some invertebrates, be resistant to high levels of radioactivity? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/20plus/eli5_how_can_certain_bacteria_or_even_some/ | {
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"All organisms in the world experience DNA damage due to radioactivity, UV exposure, free radicals, etc. Sometimes this damage causes a single stranded break in your DNA (Pretty bad), and sometimes it causes the DNA strand to completely break (Double stranded break, very bad!). Radiation causes double stranded breaks, which is why it is so dangerous. (Almost) every organism also has some way of dealing with this damage. How some organisms are \"resistant\" to this is by having these same systems that also happen to be more efficient. The most common form of repair in bacteria is the [RecBCD](_URL_1_) system, but every organisms RecBCD has varying degrees of how well it works. Those that have very high resistances to radioactivity have overactive DNA repair mechanisms, which [sometimes also act in different ways than the less effective ones](_URL_0_). It's a very cool line of research! "
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ypx6l | how exactly do numbers work? | So I've been asking myself this for a while now, and it's really bugging me. People IRL fail to properly explain it to me, and I can't wrap my head around it.
So, I don't have a clue how numbers work. I mean, I can count, but the numbers themselves seem so meaningless. How can 1 plus 1 mean 2? It's just not logical.
1, 2, 3 etc, I don't get it. Numbers are so weird. They have no meaning to me, therefore it's so hard to do math. I can't make anything of it.
How do numbers work? What's with the whole counting thing? That when you get to 9, you basically repeat everything?
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ypx6l/how_exactly_do_numbers_work/ | {
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"I upvoted this because it's actually an interesting question.\n\nWe do repeat ourselves when we get past 9... but only because we generally use base-10 as our normal \"counting\" method. There are other bases, such as base-16 for example.\n\nNumber exist because they give us a representation of something. One could (perhaps) successfully argue they don't exist at all and that it is a device invented by man to make sense of things. 2 Apples side by side mean nothing, really. Until we invent numbers, and until we invent a way to say that taking one of those apples away leaves one there.\n\nWe just invented substraction....\n\n\nMath is the a logical evolution of counting things and then, moving forward, applying interesting numbers to things to make our world easier to understand and in some cases, be more predictable.\n\nI love this question. So simple and apparently naive, but actually worthwhile. Why do we have numbers? To make sense of the world we live in.",
"When you get to 9 you repeat everything, because we use base 10 system. Base 2 system repeats itself after 1, so it goes 0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, 111... \n\nIt's good to imagine it as if each digit had its own cell. When you reach the limit of 2, you clear your current cell and add 1 to cell to the left (01+01=10).\n\nSame with base 10. When you reach 9 and add 1 more, then you clear your current cell and add 1 to the one to the left, so 09 + 01 = 10.\n\nBelieve it or not, but we used to have base 60 system. When you reached symbol of 59, you cleared the first cell and added 1 to cell to left. [Here are these symbols.](_URL_0_)\n\nYou are right, that numbers are meaningless. You could count with bananas, with your fingers, with sticks or sheep, but the idea of amount of things is universal. Numbers are just representation of that idea, a raw form of counting. We use Arabic numerals (symbols of base 10), because they are easier to write and read than drawing sticks. We use base 10, because it's not that many symbols to remember and you don't need that many cells on a piece of paper to write really big numbers.\n\n----\n\nAlso, 1+1=2 is logical, it's just not something you've gotten used to yet. It's just a matter of sorting it out in your head.",
"Your question reminds me of [this comic](_URL_1_), and the scary thing is that Calvin actually has a very good point.\n\nThe truth is that numbers seem really weird because there's really no good reason why we should count by 10's. Earlier cultures had different number systems, for example [Mayans counted by 5's](_URL_2_), while [Roman numerals](_URL_0_) don't even use a \"base\" system and some cultures didn't even have a number system and used vague terms like \"few\", \"several\", and \"many\". People found 10's easier to work with which is why we stuck with them, but the \"laws of mathematics\" don't care what you use to count numbers. \n\nLet's leave numbers out of it for a second and think of it this way: You accept that you can have one of something, or a pair of something yes? You can have a single apple or a pair of apples, and you get the pair of apples by putting one next to the other. Well, if you're just dealing with one or two apples then that's fine, you don't need to call them \"1\" or \"2\". However, when you get to bigger numbers in the hundreds, thousands, or millions, you can't just keep coming up with different words for each amount - you need something more efficient. \n\nPeople decided a long time ago that they needed a way to keep track of \"amounts\" because it is very important for professions such as traders or merchants, so we started coming up with number systems. What you call those numbers doesn't really matter, as long as you have some system in place.\n\nUnfortunately, you pretty much just have to accept the number system we have because it's not going anywhere. I do have some good news for you (although I don't know if you'll see it as \"good news\"), once you get to algebra the numbers get replaced with letters that are allowed to be any number. Most people find that more confusing, but it is actually a much purer form of math and looks at the big picture instead individual numbers. It separates mathematics from our number system, so if you're having trouble with numbers, you might find that algebra makes more sense. \n\nIt's a great question. I wish I could give you a better answer but it's really difficult to compare numbers to anything else because there's nothing else like them.\n",
"Your question gets at something that goes much deeper than things having to do with \"numbers\". The thing you are really getting at with this question, I think, is the concept of *abstraction*. Allow me to explain, using numbers as an example.\n\nWhen I ask you to picture 5 of something, you think of 5 cats, or 5 dogs, or 5 cars, or 5 universes, or 5 of something. When I ask you to picture 5–just 5, not 5 \"of something\"–most people would picture the numeral 5. If they did this, they would be picturing 5 semantically. In other words, they're thinking of the symbol we use to represent the concept of 5, but they're not really thinking of the underlying thing itself. In your question, you are basically asking, \"How do I picture 5, but not the written numeral, rather I mean 5 itself? And not 5 of something, just 5!\"\n\nIt's a great question. If you or I can *say* \"5\" without having to say \"5 dogs\" or \"5 cats\", then \"5\" alone must be a bit of language that actually refers to something, right? Well, what does it actually refer to? Let's put this on the shelf for a moment.\n\nTake a moment and list out a bunch of things you can have 5 of. Doesn't matter what. Books, trucks, whatever. Now of all these sets of 5 things, ask yourself: what do they have in common? Well, so far everything I've listed in this post are things that have atoms, so let's expand the list by adding 5 bonfires, 5 colors, and 5 ideas. Now what do all these things have in common? Maybe you can come up with something they all have in common (besides their number, I mean). If you do, keep expanding the list of things so that you whatever they had in common the new list no longer does.\n\nGot it? Ok, now: what do the sets of things all still have in common? The only thing they still have in common is that there's 5 of them. No matter how many sets of 5 you add to this list, no matter how disparate those things are, they will always and forever have one thing in common: there's 5. This means if you plucked one thing from each set, after 5 times, you'd have nothing left in any of them.\n\nClearly, there is something shared amongst all of these sets. We have identified an invariant, something that does not change as we move from set to set, each one always has 5. So: is 5 a \"real\" thing? Yes, it seems so. Is it a \"real\" thing that exists independent of any specific item? Yea, kinda. Is it a \"real\" thing that exists independent of *all* of these items? Hmm...maybe not. If you lived in a world that could never have 5 of anything, maybe 5 itself wouldn't exist. This would be a curious world, though, because the \"somethings\" we're allowing ourselves to count can be things like \"ideas\", and I'm not sure how any reasonable world could prevent more than 4 ideas.\n\nOk, so this is what I mean when I say that 5 is an abstraction. It is a thing that describes an invariant of other things, but while those other things may or may not \"really\" exist, 5 only exists in the context of those other things that can have \"five-ness\".\n\nPicture a dog. Describe it out loud. What color are its eyes, its coat, etc?\n\nWere you able to answer those questions? If so, then that's ok, but it's not really what I wanted. I was hoping you could tell me, an alien from outer space, what you mean by \"dog\". So unless all dogs have brown eyes and golden fur, what you've said isn't really helpful, because I've noticed other people refer to things as dogs that have green eyes and gray fur. In other words, picture and describe a dog to me without picturing and describing a *specific* dog.\n\nAlso, color. Picture a color, but not a *specific* color.\n\nHopefully you get my point. These are all abstractions. Each one sorts the world into two categories: things I mean to refer to when I use that word, and everything else. But figuring out exactly what goes in one category and what goes in the other is a tricky business when you have to account for each and every actual thing out there.\n\nIf you read up on the history of taxonomy of species, you'll see exactly what I mean. There is a thing called a black slime mold that is a bunch of individual amoeba-like cells, and then when food gets scarce they start doing photosynthesis. Then when the sun gets blocked, they mass together in a big clump and start cooperating to move back into the sun. If they can't find the sun, then they decide to envelope other things, and some of the cells take on the ability to digest those things and provide energy for the rest of them. They even seem able to learn and adapt to such conditions that occur periodically, moving together as a single mass when nothing yet requires them to, but soon will.\n\nHow do you classify this thing? Is it a unicellular organism or multi? Is it a plant or an animal, herbivore or omnivore? A human cell can live on its own...for awhile. Without the support of the body, it soon dies. These things can live on their own pretty much for a lifespan, but what does that mean? How long does a cell have to live on its own before we say it's \"made it\" and is a separate thing?\n\nThe black slime mold reminds us that our habit of creating and treating abstractions as real things is only as good as the quality of our abstractions. If I were to create a concept that abstracts all things that are purple and either 2.5 or 4 in number, this is as good as any other abstraction in terms of my ability to define it. But is it as good conceptually? Philosophically? I suppose it boils down to: is it *useful*? The black slime mold tells us that all of our abstractions about different kinds of life may not be as useful as we would like to think.",
"Look down at your palms.\n\nWiggle your left thumb and make a unique grunting sound.\n\nContinue down the row of fingers until you reach your right thumb.\n\nCongrats, Grog. You just invented the metric system! It's as simple and primal as that. :D",
"I understand what you mean, I think. I like to think of numbers as adjectives, not nouns. This has always made it easier for me. Numbers are just another describer. So math, to me, isn't about the number, it's about the actions. If you don't have anything to *apply* numbers to (like \"how many apples should I buy?\") it can seem like \"so what?\". It isn't until you **do** something with those numbers that they take on meaning.\n\nDoesn't work quite so well with imaginary numbers and abstract math, but in those cases I think of numbers as just being amounts, like \"more\" or \"less\", \"excess\" or \"vacuum\". I don't know if that helps but I hope it does!",
"First, the universe has structure. Or rather, the universe *is* structure. Structure is basically just a word that refers to some kind of interaction or thing. Structure can be very complicated and difficult to understand.\n\nThen, we have this thing called 'language'. Language also has structure. It has grammar and context, and these things give it meaning.\n\nNumbers are a particular kind of linguistic structure. Numbers are meaningful because they have context -- that is, you use them in certain situations, but not in others -- so you know what they mean in the situations they are used, but not anywhere else.\n\nBasically, numbers are meaningful because they are useful, and they are useful because language is amazing and has incredible structure.",
"I think this is my favorite ELI5 question."
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1ukfd9 | what would happen if a nuke was dropped in the arctic, in antarctica, or both? | Interested in both the environmental and political consequences. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ukfd9/eli5_what_would_happen_if_a_nuke_was_dropped_in/ | {
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"The environmental impact would be negligible. The size of a nuclear explosion is tiny compared to the size of the arctic/antarctic. \n\nCheck out this neat tool that shows you the size of various nuclear explosions overlayed on google maps. The first time I played around with this I realized how much smaller they are (or how much bigger cities are) then I had imagined. \n\n_URL_0_\n"
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dm9zgk | what do people mean when they describe something as a “banana republic”? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dm9zgk/elif_what_do_people_mean_when_they_describe/ | {
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"the term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the exportation of a limited-resource product, such as bananas or minerals",
"A banana republic is a country with an unstable or tenuous political system -- generally some form of oligarchy -- and an economy dependent on the export of cash crops or natural resources.\n\nThe classic examples were Honduras and neighboring ~~South~~ Latin American countries that were exploited by American industries in the late-19th and early-20th century.",
"A banana republic typically means an unstable country where the rule of law exist on paper only, and in practice, the country is run by a person or group of people who use the government to enrich themselves by maintaining and exploiting a large impoverished underclass to extract natural resources with a small group of elites at the top reaping all the benefits.\n\nThe term comes from the late 19th century and refers to countries in Central America, where U.S. fruit companies basically ran many of these countries (sometimes in cahoots with their leaders), and there was only the pretense of any sort of democracy. It's essentially synonymous with a kleptocracy but one specifically located in the tropics."
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4hcbu1 | shakespeare lived in the 17th century but he wrote othello in which little bit of black race vs white was involved. did the discrimination against the black start that early? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4hcbu1/eli5shakespeare_lived_in_the_17th_century_but_he/ | {
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"Discrimination against people who look different than you has been going on since as long as human history has existed. It has taken different forms over the years, but yes, there was racism before the modern era.\n\nIt was usually more of the \"Foreigners are bad!\" variety than \"People of these races are bad!\" but it existed.",
"Europe began enslaving Africans as soon as they hit Africa. What we currently think of as the African Slave Trade started in the late 15th Century. That being said, Othello's race is fairly ambiguous. \"Moor\" was used for pretty much anyone darker than Italian for a long time. African, Arabic, even Indian. ",
"Discrimination against those not of your group have existed since before recorded history. \n\nThe African slave trade started in the 1500s if not slightly before. \n\nEuropeans have had issues with the Moors (blacks and dark Arabs) since at least the 1300s. ",
"Not really in the same way we would recognize it today.\n\nThe modern notion of race, that humans are split into Caucasoid, Negroid, Mongoloid, etc races is fairly recent, dating back only about the the 16th-17th century. Prior to that, bigotry was based far more on where you were born than the color of your skin.\n\nSo Shakespeare *might* have been familiar with the modern concept, but it's more likely the racism was based on Othello being a Moor, which did not *necessarily* make him what we would consider \"black\" today, just MUCH darker-skinned than your typical Venetian. Moors were originally Berber Arabs, but over time the term took on a broader meaning and got applied to just about any Muslim with a darker skin.\n",
"Othello was African, but that doesn't necessarily make him black skinned. He was a Moor from North Africa, which could make him as light skinned as e.g. a south Italian. The relevant question isn't white vs black, it's Christian vs Muslim.",
"In the play, the source of Iago's antagonism was really the fact that Othello had promoted Cassio above him. The racism comes in when he manipulates Desdemona's father as part of his plan to avenge himself; Brabantio doesn't know that Desdemona has married Othello and is horrified to discover the fact.\n\nThe racist epithets are, for the most part, insults. When you want to demonise someone, you make insulting remarks about their appearance or intelligence, or whatever, and you make a particular effort to refer to things that make the person you're insulting different from you. Othello was \"a moor\" (so either black or north African) described as \"black\" and having \"thick lips\" by some of the villainous characters.\n\nAnd racism truly isn't something new. Anyone who is \"different\" for whatever reason can, and often is, looked down upon. In every society there are people who will discriminate against people based on anything -- class, education, sex, political views, religious affiliation, ethnicity...\n\nDo bear in mind, though, that while individual characters express quite racist views, Othello himself was an army general; he'd risen to quite a high level in Venetian society, so his race hadn't been *that* much of a barrier to him.\n\nYou can find lots of evidence of discrimination in much older works, such as the Bible. The parable of the Good Samaritan works because first-century Jews were in effect racist against Samaritans. In the Old Testament, Ezra and Nehemiah were both violently opposed to intermarriage:\n\n > Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair.\n\n > Nehemiah 13:23-25"
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1yz79n | when walking on a tightrope with a long bar, why does pushing down on the long bar on the side that you are leaning help balance in the other direction? | why doesn't the weight on the long bar (being lower on one end) cause it to fall to a side?
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1yz79n/eli5when_walking_on_a_tightrope_with_a_long_bar/ | {
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"Newton's third Law of Motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So when I push the bar, the bar pushes me in the opposite direction.",
"When you are pushing on a long rod like that you create a rotational torque on said object (just rotational force), and due to Newton's Third Law, it pushes back on you and pushes you back up your rotational point (the rope). The reason the pole isn't completely tilted afterwards is because of something known as a moment of inertia (resistance to change in rotation) which is why the pole is soooooo long, because the moment of inertia is dependent on how far you can put mass away from the center point. The best way to see moment of inertia in action is when you try spinning with your arms out and then bring them in (spinning is much faster when you bring your arms in. So when you are able to center yourself again, you are able to stabilize the pole and continue your walk. :)"
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3nkoss | how did the ancient egyptians know mummification worked? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3nkoss/eli5_how_did_the_ancient_egyptians_know/ | {
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"They knew how to preserve meat and stop rotting in desert conditions. The practices were slightly modified, ceremonialized, and applied to humans.\n\nIt's long been known that removing the blood and organs from an animal prevents the meat from spoiling for far longer. It's long been known that packing with salt can dry meat and preserve it.\n\nMummification is basically the process of draining the fluid, removing the organs, and packing the corpse on/with salt for about 2 months, before filling with sand/linen and wrapping with linen. It's really not far from what they'd do to preserve any given animal, and was perfected over generations of practice with trial and error. \n\nKeep in mind, \"Ancient Egyptians\" were making mummys for a VERY long time. There's clear evidence that by the time King Tut was mummified, they had over 3,000 years of practice."
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r3byx | iso, aperture, shutter, all that camera stuff and how it works. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/r3byx/eli5_iso_aperture_shutter_all_that_camera_stuff/ | {
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"A camera is a box with a hole in it that allows light to enter. The light travels through the hole onto the back wall of the box (the image plane).\n\nIf we want, we can put a cover on the hole in order to open and shut it, we call this the shutter. There are two important aspects of the shutter, how long it remains open before we close it again (shutter speed) and how large of a hole is created when it's opened (aperture).\n\nIf we want to, we can put something on the back of the box to capture the image of the light that falls on it (film or a digital photo sensor). This material will be made of very many small dots that each capture a very small portion of the overall image. The more of these dots (pixels, digitally) there are, the more detail is captured, but the more light we need in order to affect all the dots. The amount of dots there are (density) is called \"film speed\" on film (because it takes *longer* to expose film with lots of little dots) \"exposure index\" on digital, and how we measure these things is governed by an international standard to make it easy to compare them. These standards are overseen by the International Standardization Organization, so we abbreviate \"film speed\" and \"exposure index\" as \"ISO\".\n\nBack to aperture and shutter speed, both of these control how *much* light is let into the box, but affect what is captured on the film in different ways. \n\nFor shutter speed, everything that happens between when the shutter is opened until when it is closed will be recorded on film. Imagine taking a picture of a running deer. If we only open our shutter for a fraction of a second, we will only capture a fraction of a second of the deer's motion, resulting in a snapshot of the deer in mid-motion. If we open our shutter for ten seconds, we will capture everything the deer does in those 10 seconds, resulting in a blurry image.\n\nFor aperture, [how large or small the hole is](_URL_1_) determines how much of the image is in focus (depth of field). A very small hole means that the light rays which pass through it will be tightly bundled, and more of an image will be in focus, like [this](_URL_2_). A larger hole means the light rays will not be bundled as closely when they pass through the hole, and less of the image will be in focus, like [this](_URL_0_).\n\nWhen you're taking photos, you can manipulate these three aspects in order to achieve the desired effect, and to accommodate the amount of light available.",
"Though originally set up in 1953 by Cave Johnson to make shower curtains, Aperture is a research corporation who are mostly known for their development of the portal gun. Nowadays it seems to be mostly abandoned though many of the mechanics are still up and running. There is some debate about it's old AI system GLADoS still being active but reporters have thusfar not yet returned with more information. In most cases their final communication was short, and the meaning unknown:\n\n\"The cake is a lie.\""
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6jm4df | how does military check for people in radius of atomic weapon test? | There has been hundreds of atomic weapons tests. How is military sure that there is no living people in 100km radius or however big the explosion is?
Pretty sure they kill animals but we never hear about people who died during those tests. If there was so many and explosions are so huge, there must have been casualties right? How come we never hear about those tests too... | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6jm4df/eli5_how_does_military_check_for_people_in_radius/ | {
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"Most of these tests were in two areas:\n\n1) Pacific islands. Here it's pretty easy to look for people: there's only so many surrounding islands.\n\n2) The Nevada Test Site. This is a huge chunk of Nevada completely controlled by the military. They know no one lives there.\n\nPlus, as far as we know (and this day and age we'd probably know), the US no longer conducts nuclear tests anywhere.",
"Although these kinds of tests haven't been conducted in some time...\n\nSatellite imagery, including thermal imaging, can check for any nearby living beings. This, combined with modern security, can effectively secure even a very large site for use as bomb testing. Every nation with known nuclear weapon capability has **large** swaths of land and sea available for testing that have very limited interaction with the public, even when they aren't being controlled for that specific use.\n\n The USA has large swathes of desert and sea available, Russia has more uninhabited area than most countries combined. The UK and France have many islands available that are either uninhabited or sparsely inhabited. China has huge mountain ranges with no known inhabitants. ",
"The tests were generally done on areas that were under military control with low population densities. E.g., the Nevada Test Site is an Air Force bombing range. In the Pacific tests, this was more of a problem since while you could identify inhabited islands nearby, you could not always control for the seas themselves. Surveys were made with airplanes to confirm that ships were out of the \"danger zone,\" and the danger zone itself was publicly known (ships were told in advance to avoid it). \n\nKeeping people outside of the area of the immediate explosion is generally not the problem, though it requires accurate understanding of the explosive effects, which can be complex (e.g. the first Soviet H-bomb test resulted in several fatalities because the blast wave reflected off an inversion layer in the atmosphere, which extended its power more than expected). \n\nThe truly difficult problem is in keeping them safe from fallout, which depends on wind conditions that can change, and truly massive areas (tens of thousands of square miles). The most famous incident of this sort was during the Castle Bravo test, where the fallout plume was much larger than expected (and thus drifted over inhabited islands, which were evacuated), and a Japanese fishing boat, the Lucky Dragon, ended up exposed because it [was very close to the danger zone when the bomb went off](_URL_0_) (it was within an \"expanded danger zone\" that was created after the fact). This lead to exposure of the crew to radioactivity, and one fatality.\n\nThere were also issues with \"downwinders\" at the Nevada Test Site (people who lived in towns where clouds ended up crossing and depositing radioactivity) and downwind of the Soviet test site in Kazakhstan. In the US case, they would try to track the clouds and tell people living downwind not to go outside when it was passing over them — not an ideal approach. ",
"The tests are done in regions under military control on government land that is remote and unpopulated. There simply are not non-military people around to die from them. ",
"The US tested weapons at the Nevada Test Site. It's [here](_URL_0_)\n\nIt's a long way from anything. The land has been owned by the government since it became part of the US, and is worth pretty much zero for any agricultural activity. Mining *could* pay it's way in some spots, perhaps, but that requires permitting, mining claims, and generally *some* water. There isn't any. Soo, yeah, just the lack of water will fix the \"is there anyone out here\" question.\n\nAnd, the areas are all completely off-limits for civilians, with deadly force authorized against intruders.\n\nAnd you can see the actual craters from the tests, so 100km is not a reasonable blast radius.\n\nNow, traces of radioactive debris that is blown into upper atmosphere can circle the earth a few times before settling - and we're pretty sure there are people in various places around earth... so there's that. But we're talking trace amounts at that point.\n\nThe Navy used spots further north for some underground testing, and not really all that far from Hwy 50 (Project Shoal). Been there, the site is uncontrolled. You can just drive out and see (that there is nothing to see).\n"
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30o572 | why would a large number of international politicians be interested in allowing corporations to sue countries? is there a reasonable explanation for this part of the tpp? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/30o572/eli5_why_would_a_large_number_of_international/ | {
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"Because to them the people are just the idiots who vote them in. The corporations are the ones who pay them.",
"First of all, corporations are already allowed to sue countries. That's a basic feature of rule of law: the state can't just do what it wants. Private actors (including individuals, NGOs, and corporations) can sue, and they sometimes win.\n\nWhat the TPP will do is make disputes between corporations and countries resolved by arbitration, not in national courts. The reasonable explanation is for the law to be predictable and consistent. Say Kangaroocourtistan signs the TPP and agrees to certain intellectual property protections. There's an epidemic of piracy in K-stan, and Universal Studios sues the country under the TPP. But their courts are heavily stacked in favor of the government, which never cared about intellectual property anyway. No one is ever convicted of copyright infringement. In order to avoid that problem, the TPP specifies that disputes are resolved by neutral arbitrators, not in national courts.\n\n(I'll just mention that I don't like these provisions, and for that reason, I don't support the TPP. But what I wrote is the most charitable explanation for those provisions.)"
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w0wf4 | which drugs are/are not harmful for you and why? | Only within the last few years have I become more informed and realized the amount of propaganda and brainwashing I've undergone my whole life in regards to drugs. I know that marijuana is more harmless than cigarettes and alcohol, but only recently have I learned that the same may be true for other substances. I'd like to be informed as possible in an easy-to-read manner without having to sift through bias. Thank you! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/w0wf4/eli5_which_drugs_areare_not_harmful_for_you_and/ | {
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"There isn't a list of substances you can put in your body consequence free. It probably won't hurt you to examine different perspectives on the issue in trying to arrive at an informed decision about what you should put in your body. ",
"**EDIT:** [Here is a PDF] (_URL_0_) of a paper written by Professor David Nutt on the relative dangers of different common drugs.\n\nThe problem is that all substances are harmful to humans, in a high enough quantity that is. Even water, if you drink enough will poison you, its called Water intoxication and its not as uncommon as you might think.\n\nEverything, including drugs, must be put on a scale of harmfulness. This problem is also confounded by the fact that street drugs are often mixed with other unknown things and that the method of ingestion can be harmful. Cocaine is used as an aesthetic for eyes (yes, optometrists today squirt it in peoples eyes), but enough use will burn a hole right through your nose.\n\nHeroin kills by relaxing the user enough that their breathing slows down and they fall asleep, their breathing slows even more to the point that they cant regain consciousness, then they suffocate. Regular heroin use, so long as it is below a fatal dose, is relatively safe drug when it comes to long term health implications (ingestion method, adulterants and interaction with other drugs aside).\n\nIf you give a list of drugs I can better break down their relative safeness/harm. There are too many to go over. If the majority of your knowledge came from school, the media and government then it is probably mostly wrong.",
"There's an old line: The dose makes the poison. Any drug can be harmful, but so can just about anything.\n\nAs to \"harmful\" that can be subjective because different drugs affect people in different ways. Nicotine, separate from all the chemicals added to cigarettes is rather harmless. Alcohol taken in moderation (glass of wine at dinner/ a beer during a game) is rather harmless to most people.\n\nNow there's two common ways people talk about harm, risk of Dependence and risk of physical damage. In both cases heroin is the most dangerous, by far. But other than heroin, the big \"danger\" drugs are meth, morphine (or similar pain killers), cocaine and barbiturates. Alcohol and tobacco are somewhere in the middle with marijuana and caffeine right behind that. The least dangerous tends to be hallucinogens, mostly because you need so little to have an effect. \n\nEdit: typo"
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3urk1i | what is haskell and what is it used for? | I know that it is a programming language but what is it special for and what is it most used for? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3urk1i/eli5_what_is_haskell_and_what_is_it_used_for/ | {
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"It isn't really used for much of anything - it's more of a philosophical experiment than anything else.\n\nHaskell is an example of a 'functional' programming language. Unlike conventional imperative languages, functional programming languages don't involve an implicit dependency on preceding lines and tend to minimize the use of conventional variables in favor of constants and non-rewritable data.\n\nSuch a model for a programming language can have significant benefits when you're dealing with concurrent operations. By eliminating implicit dependencies and reducing the problem of race conditions by forbidding most variables, your low level code can more effectively manage the resource demands of your high level code.\n\nIn theory, languages like Java should be replaced by functional languages such as Haskell (and, in many special purpose operations, they are). However, most people have a great deal of trouble programming in a functional language beyond a certain level of complexity so they aren't used in a general sense.",
"Simple answer: Your instructions are smaller.\n\nLong answer:\n\nHave you ever been to a bathroom with multiple mirrors surrounding you?\nLike you would see your reflection in one mirror and the reflection of that reflection in another mirror?\n\nNow imagine that you could control that cool effect and essentially tell those mirrors when to stop reflecting. This might seem kinda pointless but it's quite the neat idea when it comes to programming.\n\nHere's an example:\n\nSay you want to tell your friend **Tom** to flush the toilet after he takes a shit.\n\nWe'll be using Haskell pseudo code for this example.\n\n let tomFlush toilet = if toilet == notFlushed then tomFlush toilet else flushed where notFlushed = 1; flushed = 0;\n\nNow lets put this in English:\n\nIf tom uses then toilet then he must flush the toilet but if the toilet is flushed then stop flushing fucking toilet tom.\n\nThe thing is tom might have taken a major shit and one flush might not be enough.\n\nIf you were to tell tom do this in another programming language you might write something like this:\n\nWell be using c++ pseudo code for this example:\n\n unsigned state_of_toilet = 0;\n \n do {\n state_of_toilet = flush(toilet);\n } while (state_of_toilet = 0);\n\nIn this example you start of by checking if tom flushed the toilet then if he has not, tell tom to flush the toilet but the key difference here is that now he needs to see what *flush();* actually means. So part of your instructions now is to have him figure that out then come back and keep checking if he did it correctly. Like he would actually go get a dictionary and look up the word *flush* just so he can come back and do it. Meanwhile your stuck with a shitty un-flushed toilet.\n\nIn Haskell, you don't tell Tom to look up the word \"flush\" because you tell him straight away that to flush the toilet is to keep flushing it until the shit disappears. \n\nYou really only have to tell him what a flushed toilet looks like.\n\nNow I apologize if this a quiet the shitty explanation but I recommend you checking out [this eBook!](_URL_0_) that can explain things much better.\n"
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3xcg8q | what is the reason for car alarms going off due to vibration? | Our neighbors car alarm goes off every time the trash truck goes by. Some quick googling shows it is likely due to the low vibrations caused by the trash truck. Why would a car alarm be set to go off due to vibration? Is there some thievery method that requires a car to be vibrated in some way to force a window or door open? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3xcg8q/eli5_what_is_the_reason_for_car_alarms_going_off/ | {
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"10+ years selling/installing alarms here.\n\nIt's not a vibration sensor, it's a \"shock\" sensor. 504D is a common part number.\n\nIt alerts the owner to an impact. For instance, your ex taking a Louisville Slugger to both headlights, or a thief smashing a window. Things that wouldn't trigger the alarm if it just went off for an opened door/hood/trunk. It's also a deterrent, thieves know to tap a car and see if it chirps. No one wants to stand there while an alarm goes off.\n\nThe fact that it goes off for a severe vibration (thunder, motorcycles, etc) is a side-effect of a poorly adjusted sensor. They do have a sensitivity dial, and most pro's set it at a point where you need a *real* impact to set it off. Out of the box, it's often way too sensitive."
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b047f2 | what skill is involved in fishing competitions? how do competitors distinguish themselves from one another? | Because at face value, it just seems like RNG to me. Hope the biggest fish takes your bait. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b047f2/eli5_what_skill_is_involved_in_fishing/ | {
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"Your right, luck has a large part in your success but so does as individuals skill in setting up the hook properly and reeling it in with minimal resistance to increase ur chance of a successful catch. Sorry about the run on sentence. ",
"It's luck, but there is skill in knowing how to maximize your luck: how to give yourself the most opportunities for luck, and how to make the most out of the luck you have. An unskilled fisher will not be able to give themselves opportunities to be lucky (maybe wrong spot, bait, etc.) and in the chance they do get lucky, they wouldn't be able to take advantage of or make the most out of it like a skilled one can.",
" \n\nFirst, understanding that 10% of the water contains 90% of the fish. And knowing how to find that 10%.\n\nSecond, knowing that fish behavior is dependent upon season, time of day, weather today, weather tomorrow, and weather yesterday. Fish are sensitive to lunar schedules and barometric pressure. And fish in one lake will behave differently based on conditions than fish in another.\n\nAnd they’ll behave differently based on geography, too. Smallmouths in rocky deep water are much different from largemouths in a swamp. Of course, you might have both in the same body of water, and might not have time to go after both.\n\nAnd forage matters, too, as does an assessment of mood. Spinnerbaits work one day, Jig & pig the next. Some days the imitation needs to be perfect, and others it’s a matter of pissing the fish off to get a reaction.\n\nTo be sure, there’s a lot of guesswork. But some people guess right a lot more frequently than others, and they get paid to do it."
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5y3dws | do super cars have to go through the same crash testing as normal cars? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5y3dws/eli5_do_super_cars_have_to_go_through_the_same/ | {
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"Yes they do. At least the basic tests. Any car that will be driven on the road as a production car will have to demonstrate a minimum standard of safety and emissions before it can be given a VIN number. Without one it can't be registered and given license plates. \n\nThey are not required to get an IIHS crash rating, nobody is. Manufacturers just do it to show off the safety of their cars. Sometimes the IIHS will buy cars themselves to test but since supercars are expensive and the IIHS is a non-profit company it will be hard to justify buying a fleet of Ferrari's to crash test.\n\nThe only way around it is if the manufacturer makes fewer than 325 cars a year (applies to USA only, IDK about other countries), or if you build the car yourself."
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32xuql | why do some people want to end the epa? | I have heard some politicians talking about ending the EPA.
I understand the organization probably has many flaws, but isn't it designed to stop corporations or people from dumping toxic chemicals or destroying the environment?
Do they think people should have free reign to do whatever they want, even if it destroys a river, lake, etc? Even if it could destroy a water supply? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/32xuql/eli5_why_do_some_people_want_to_end_the_epa/ | {
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"text": [
"The EPA fines businesses who pollute. People with businesses don't want that kind of oversight and want to do what they want without paying penalties. \n\nIt all boils down to greed sadly.",
"Because it costs corporations more money to follow EPA regulations instead of just dumping everything wherever is cheap and convenient. So they try to make everyone think the EPA functions the way it does in the friggin Simpsons movie, because *that's* how corporations see environmental regulation. ",
"There are a couple of reasons politicians say they need to end the EPA. Many of them say that the EPA is very expensive and has a lot of requirements that are very expensive to comply with. Most of them then say something vague about each state having their own equivalent of the EPA or just that the EPA needs to be \"reformed\" rather than scrapped.\n\nPoliticians seem concerned that the EPA is costing businesses a lot of money and are less concerned about the impact of the businesses not following the EPA's guidelines."
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6z39ox | what was grocery shopping like before scanning? | was it really slow for people buying stuff in bulk? how did they handle it back then? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6z39ox/eli5_what_was_grocery_shopping_like_before/ | {
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"They had carbon copy paper where they would write down what you bought.\n\nYou would get a copy as your receipt and they would keep a copy.",
"Items had price stickers on them (placed by employees). The cashier would type the price into the register. It was slower, but only slightly.",
"I asked my grandpa real quick and he said people didn't buy in bulk as much. You'd go to the store and get a loaf of bread, some milk, eggs, and a few other things. People weren't getting heaping grocery carts full of frozen meals and stuff.\n\nThat being said, yes it was still slower. And the cashiers had to be really good with thier basic maths skills.",
"It depends on how far you go back, but just prior to scanning, it was a combination of things.\n\nIn smaller stores, clerks were expected to just know the price of everything and might have a book where they could look up prices they hadn't yet memorized. We can still often see this today with produce, although now it is usually memorizing the code representing the item and the computer looks up the price.\n\nIn larger stores, items would have price tags and these would be manually typed into the adding machine (of whatever sort).\n\nBuying in bulk isn't really a problem for this system. You just need to know the unit price and number of units purchased then multiply. Even today, if a customer buys a large number of the same item, it will usually be scanned once and the number of items is manually input.\n\nReceipts were often less descriptive and/or were written up by hand. In many places you had to request a receipt because the labor that went into producing one was rather high.\n\nSometimes stores or restaurants with particularly limited supplies would have some manual code-input device which would allow for faster input and more detailed receipts.",
"I remember this from when I was a kid. Each item was tagged with the price of that item. So when people were adding things to the shelves they would also use the label maker to add the price tags. For bulk items like fruit and similar things you would not tag each item but the cashers would have a price list for the item. A good casher would be able to type the prices into the register at the same speed as average modern cashers who use the scanner.\n\nThe main disadvantage of this was that it was harder to get a receipt as it was easier to just type the price and not the product name. So most people did not bother with a receipt or just got receipt for \"misc groceries\". It was not that bad for the customers but the problem was that the shop did not know how much they were selling of different items and therefore not how much they had left and how much they had to order. A shop owner would spend a lot of time counting stock and judging how popular different items were so that he could plan for how much he had to order. This is the main reason why they changed to using barcodes. Now they know exactly what products are being sold at what shop and at what time. A lot of times they even know who bought the product. So they have a lot more control and can do more informed decisions when ordering products and for marketing.",
"I currently live in a country where a lot of the smaller stores don't have scanners (and they also are cash-only). The items all have prices written on them and the cashier adds them up on a little calculator. You don't really buy a whole lot of stuff at once - just a few eggs, enough chicken for one dinner, a couple tomatoes, etc. But you shop more often than once a week. ",
"I am feeling old. When I was little my dad owned a store and the cash register was an old push button one (think old typewriter keys) and made a huge ding and the drawer slammed out of it so step back. We were pretty excited to get an electric cash register. We had every price in the whole store memorized and had to price everything with a price gun. \n\nIt really isn't any faster now vs back then because you got so accustomed to the machine that you could type one handed without even looking at the key pad while ringing people through the check out. ",
"It was way faster. Especially in the early days of scanning. Scanning sometimes involved multiple passes. It’s really more important for inventory control and ordering than speed of checking out. "
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281ozq | why does it feel like there is something in my eye, when there isn't | When it feels like you have an eyelash in your eye, but there isn't | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/281ozq/eli5_why_does_it_feel_like_there_is_something_in/ | {
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"Usually the reason is lack of moisture.\n\nWhen you blink, your eyelid 'smears' a tear film over the surface of your eye. Due to some situations and/or diseases, this tear film breaks up (evaporates) much faster than it normally should, and leaves the surface of your eye exposed. This causes the gritty/scratchy feeling in your eye.\n\nThis is why you feel the need to blink more.",
"If you also get something in your eye and then rub it, it can cause a scratch on the cornea. Tearing and blinking can remove the debris, but the scratch itself can make it feel like the debris is still there. This is why it is advised to not rub your eyes when you get something in them. ",
"there probably is something in there, you just can't see it. particles of dust that you need to blink or rinse out, for example. ",
"Usually a dry eye will rub on the inside of the eye lid, this will aggravate the membrane covering the eye called the conjunctiva. This becomes swollen as fluid builds up beneath the membrane. Moving your eye around in its socket causes the bulging conjunctiva to thicken and press against the eye lid, causing the sensation there is a foreign body in the eye."
]
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[],
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|
28q4i4 | when will we run out of usable radio frequencies? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/28q4i4/eli5_when_will_we_run_out_of_usable_radio/ | {
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"text": [
"In 1927.\n\nWhy 1927? That was the year it was thought necessary to set up the [ITU-R](_URL_0_) to coordinate international use of the radio spectrum. Of course the efficiency offered by the technology of the day has much to say about how crowded the airwaves are. We cannot say with certainty when no further increase in the amount of data transmitted can be achieved."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITU-R"
]
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||
onhvl | closing certain programs in order to install others. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/onhvl/eli5_closing_certain_programs_in_order_to_install/ | {
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"When a program runs, it often uses a handful of other files to help it run. Those files are all loaded into memory (RAM), and those files are said to be \"locked\" from changes. \n\nWhen a program wishes to run an update, it often needs to provide updated versions of those files. If the file is \"locked\", it cannot update it, and so it asks you to close down the program(s) so the lock goes away. \n\nSide note: This is often why you have to reboot your computer after an update. The operating system itself has locked a file, so the only way to update it is to do so on the reboot process.",
"Sometimes installing programs needs to make certain changes to your computer. Think of it like making repairs under the hood of a car. Like it's hard to do repairs on a car that's running, it's hard to change programs that are running.\n\nThese days, you usually really don't have to do that. But it's good to do anyways, because it's better to be safe than sorry.\n\nSomething that you might also notice is that after installing something you need to restart your computer. It's related to this -- the installation wanted to change something very deep inside your computer. The only way to close that part of your computer, you really must close your computer. The next time you open your computer, the repairs have been made."
]
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[],
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||
53g1qu | why we use lead to encase radiated objects | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/53g1qu/eli5_why_we_use_lead_to_encase_radiated_objects/ | {
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"Lead is very dense. So there's just more stuff in there, electrons and atoms that can get in the way of radiation. The radiation basically just keeps going until it hits something. Some forms of radiation like alpha particles, are big and heavy and they can be stopped by a sheet of paper, can't even penetrate skin (though if something that gives off alpha particles gets inside the body it can be bad). But for things like gamma rays, which are just really high frequency light it takes a full centimeter of lead to stop half of them. For each photon there's a 50/50 chance of making it out past one centimeter, and to get a 50/50 chance with concrete would take 6 cms. The major factor is just how much mass is in their path. Denser is better, and lead is very dense and cost effective as opposed to something like gold which has a similar density. "
]
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[]
] |
||
3k3d86 | why does it take such a long and complicated process for the us to accept immigrants from highly developed countries, such as germany? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3k3d86/eli5_why_does_it_take_such_a_long_and_complicated/ | {
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"text": [
"Because the U.S. is already a highly developed and educated nation. The government would rather have companies hire Americans than Germans.",
"Because German aren't an important political constituent. The Democratic party, and to a lessor extent the Republican's want to curry favor with a fast growing immigrant population and they are mostly Hispanic not German. "
]
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[],
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||
ctb0ak | how do blimps control their altitude? | I've been trying to think about how this would work, but honestly, I'm stumped. Once they're up in the air, they can't add more weight to counterbalance the lift of the blimp so that theory is out. Depending on the gas used for lift, adding heat to gain more lift would be super dangerous. How does that work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ctb0ak/eli5_how_do_blimps_control_their_altitude/ | {
"a_id": [
"exjqrxv"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"There's two smaller balloons inside the main balloon called balloonettes. \nOne in front, one in back. \nThese balloons are filled with air. \nWhen they want to sink, they pump air from outside into these balloons making the whole thing more heavier/more dense. \nIf they want to tilt forward/back, they pump air into one, but not the other. \n \nMore or less equivalent to a submarine's ballast tanks."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
3trzx0 | why do we find things creepy? | I was on youtube, and I came across this video. _URL_0_ Neat little optical illusion, but I found everything about it disturbing. None of my friends found it creepy. That made me think why do we find things creepy or disturbing? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3trzx0/eli5_why_do_we_find_things_creepy/ | {
"a_id": [
"cx8pwrm"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Vsauce has a great [video](_URL_0_) about it. You should check it out and could probably explain it better than I could."
]
} | [] | [
"https://youtu.be/oAAFN4Ym95I"
] | [
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEikGKDVsCc"
]
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|
1i5qa1 | why do a bunch of water molecules put together look like water? | I know that a water molecule is an oxygen atom connected to two hydrogen atoms. How do all these molecules together make the appearance of water? I don't get it! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1i5qa1/eli5_why_do_a_bunch_of_water_molecules_put/ | {
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"Imagine a swarm of bees. Standing well back, you can't see the individual insects, but each individual one blocks just enough light that the whole swarm looks like a dark cloud.\n\nMolecules of water (and all other substances) are like that. The individual molecules are too small to be seen, but they each block or bend the light just a little bit. When you get a lot of them together, the overall effect of millions of those \"little bits\" of light-bending is what you see as the appearance of water.\n\nLet me go out on a limb and guess at why you're asking. The way that your average basic science text explains the makeup of stuff is kind of unhelpful here. They'll show you those ball-and-stick diagrams of molecules, and then show you a picture of a drop of water with a little \"zoomed-in\" circle showing a few dozen ball-and-stick molecules.\n\nEven though you know that's not what molecules actually look like, it messes with your intuition. On some level you have trouble reconciling the idea of millions of lumpy little ball-and-stick molecules coming together to give the appearance (and the feel, and the movement) of water.\n\nThink instead of molecules being little fuzzy lumps. This is both more like how they actually are (there's no \"surface\" to an atom) and more helpful when intuiting how millions of them can behave like a clear, flowing liquid."
]
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|
3x9qax | why are most rappers signed to multiple labels? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3x9qax/eli5_why_are_most_rappers_signed_to_multiple/ | {
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"Ok, I can't speak to rap specifically, but i do know about rock labels and it must be similar: \n\nYou're an up and coming rock act, but as of yet haven't collected much renown. You're known in your city and in your circles, but not much more. You're way too small for a huge label to take an interest in yet, but your little garage-local-label will give you the $5k you need to launch your debut record. You are now signed to GLL.\n\nFast forward 6 months and your debut is making some headway, You're on the radio, got your single on a hit TV, everything's looking up. This gets you the attention of Big-Ass-Records, who want to add you to their catalog. The only problem is that you've signed a 5 year contract with GLL, to which you've got 4.5 years left.\n\nThere are a couple of ways they deal with this; if BAR thinks you're worth it, they may offer to buy out your contract with GLL, thereby transferring you to them, for a fee, If they aren't that confidant in your long term marketability, they may be only interested in promoting and/or distributing your next album before deciding to buy outright. So BAR and GLL partner up for your second release. \n\nDepending how this release is recieved, they may both decide to continue on the partnership, or the bBAR may just buy the contract, or they may decide it's not worth it and drop you. But for that one (or more) releasse(s) you're now signed on two different labels."
]
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[]
] |
||
3loq3x | what does 'organic' mean in the real world? is it a real, measurable, testable thing, or just the latest buzzword to justify higher prices? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3loq3x/eli5_what_does_organic_mean_in_the_real_world_is/ | {
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"In Chemistry, it means anything made of carbon. With food, it means stuff grown without using synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or genetic modifications or from animals raised without the use of growth hormone or antibiotics. So there is a real definition that can be measured, but it's questionable whether those things actually provide a benefit. \"Natural\" pesticides aren't necessarily better for the environment than synthetic ones, for example.",
"\"Oraganic\" when it relates to fruits/vegetables/farms is a definite word meaning the farm it came from is certified organic, which is a fairly elaborate 5 year process in the US.\n\nOther than that, a lot of other stuff can claim \"organic\" without it really meaning too much, it could mean it, or it could not, its not really something that is enforced or regulated too hard except for farms. Yeah it seems weird, but thats how it is.\n\n\"Natural\" on the other hand has no official meaning at all in the US and is merely a marketing buzz word. And according to all research, its a pretty effective tactic, and no one ever checks what it means, because it has no meaning, you just slap on \"natural\" on to a product, and the perceived value usually increases.\n\nEdit: I should point out, that just because something is \"organic\" or comes from an organic farm, does not mean it is any better than a non-organic exact same item. It just lets you know they don't use synthetic chemicals. Organic chemicals can be just as good/bad as synthetic ones in many cases.",
"It means they used primitive agriculture techniques to produce low yielding crops and you pay a higher price for their inefficiency.",
"\"Organic\" is a relatively fuzzy term by itself, but there are several concrete standards for organic-ness, usually connected to a certifying agency and a trademark. /u/ttread has already mentioned the USDA Organic label; in my corner of the country you are also likely to encounter [Oregon Tilth](_URL_2_) Certified Organic (OTCO); and I believe there's a similar California group (edit: indeed, several: [one by the state](_URL_0_), another [independent](_URL_1_), probably more.)\n\nBecause organic farming is connected to the ideas like permaculture and ecologically-beneficial farming, the details tend to be fairly specific to the particular crops and locations. Growing apples is not like growing asparagus; growing cherries in Washington is not like growing cherries in Ontario; the useful organic techniques and needs can differ.",
"There is actually a fairly specific [certification process](_URL_0_) in the USA (and many, many other countries) that you have to adhere to or you can get fined for referring to your food as \"organic\". So, it is \"measurable\", it is testable, and often, yes, it is also a buzzword justifying higher prices for no real benefit.",
"Don't believe the hype. Australia also has a rigorous certification process. I work in the industry and the two worst examples I've personally witnessed were a fertiliser company had to provided an email stating their product was friendly for a farmer to receive certification. Secondly an organic olive grower who uses exactly the same copper based pesticides as his neighbour but has an extra week withholding period. \n\nIt's all designed to make the certification bodies money. "
]
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2rxhbd | could someone "survive" if we pumped oxygenated and nutrient-rich blood to their brain/head? | It would seem that everything besides the brain is there to keep the brain running. Could someone live if we gave their brain everything it needed to keep thinking/hearing/speaking even? Or is something else located in the rest of the body absolutely crucial to survival? I can only imagine the reason we haven't saved an otherwise healthy head/brain at this point in modern medicine is that we haven't really had the capacity to replace all of the necessary nutrients.
Oh by the way... "Don't worry, I'm not mental or anything", I just feel like if the means were there, don't we in a way run a risk by travelling around all day in an extremely vulnerable husk, ready to be succumbed by the first car accident or unwashed handshake? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2rxhbd/eli5_could_someone_survive_if_we_pumped/ | {
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"text": [
"Yes, this is what a heart-lung machine does during major surgery.\n\n_URL_0_\n",
"This has been done before, with animals. \n\nHere is a video **allegedly** showing an old Russian experiment done with a dog. It looks real to me, but, then so did *The Wizard of Oz*. \n\nWarning, it might be disturbing and upsetting to watch. \n\n_URL_0_"
]
} | [] | [] | [
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiopulmonary_bypass"
],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSrIkUXwsNk"
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|
2fb12w | why are emergency situations coded by different color names? where did this originate from? | "Code red!" | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2fb12w/eli5_why_are_emergency_situations_coded_by/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Because it's easier to say \"Code Pink\" (indicates a kidnapped baby at the hospital I work at) rather than trying to explain the situation over the intercom. It's also used to make sure people don't panic \"Code Black\" (indicates severe weather) so staff can get people to where they need to be calmly. It's also used to prevent a criminal from feeling before security can get there \"Code green to maternity ward.\" (suspicious person at maternity ward please send security.) "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
5rtu8i | how does a gravity boost work? | I have heard that many missions which take satellites beyond earth have used a gravity boost from Jupiter to speed up. But how would that work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5rtu8i/eli5_how_does_a_gravity_boost_work/ | {
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"It's essentially just a very complicated trajectory where they send the spacecraft on a precise flight path toward a planet. As the planet is moving through space, you time the flight of the spacecraft just right so that it approaches this moving planet, which exerts its gravitational effects on the spacecraft and makes it speed up/alter course/etc. Due to the movement of the planet and the precise trajectory of the craft, it doesn't actually get close enough to the planet to get \"sucked in\" by it's gravity and crash to the surface, it just gets close enough to feel gravitational effects which are used to pull the craft onto a new trajectory, faster. So the planet acts like a slingshot where the craft interacts with its gravitational field briefly before being shot off into space again.",
"When you get a gravity assist, you leave the planet/moon you're getting the gravity assist from at the same speed you approached it, but not in the same direction(your trajectory would be hyperbolic or parabolic). Think of Jupiter like a truck moving down the highway, flying your spacecraft behind it as it orbits around the sun is like bouncing a ball off the front of the truck as it approaches, flying your spacecraft in front of Jupiter is like bouncing your ball off the back of the truck as its moving away from you. Basically, if you leave Jupiter going more in the direction Jupiter is moving than when you approached it, it will transfer some of it's energy to you. If you leave Jupiter going in the opposite direction jupiter is moving, it will take some energy away from you.\n\nEdit: Here are a couple of examples from KSP. The first is an example of a gravity assist that sends the ship out into solar orbit, the second is an example of a free return trajectory, where the gravity assist sends you back home. _URL_0_",
"Great explanations by others, but keep in mind the manoeuvre can also be used to decelerate. Just depends whether you're passing in front of the body (relative to the direction of orbit) or behind.\n\nGo in front to slow down, go behind to speed up. I hope that makes more sense, you can't just fly by a planet and expect greater speeds.",
"The speed you gain from the gravity of the planet as you approach is basically zero sum, that is, you will lose that extra speed when you try to escape the gravity of the planet, but what you do get to keep is the speed from the planet orbiting the sun... \n\nTry to imagine a planet orbiting the sun like a handle on the edge of spinning merry-go-round... a gravity assist is like grabbing hold of the handle and getting some of that orbital speed before letting go...\n\n"
]
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"http://imgur.com/a/Y4WG0"
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rhc1s | vpns and proxies | as well as the pros/cons, and whether or not they will be able to facilitate me doing whatever the hell I please online, despite any impending, fascist legislation
edit: I noticed that VPNs had already been addressed earlier...I still would like to know what a proxy is/how to get one/what's so great about being behind 7 of them lol.. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/rhc1s/eli5_vpns_and_proxies/ | {
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"text": [
" > I still would like to know what a proxy is/how to get one/what's so great about being behind 7 of them lol..\n\nA proxy is 'another server' through which you do all of your browsing. So in a default situation, you are 'directly connected'. You browse to a website and your ISP's servers handle this for you. When you hit reddit, reddit can store your IP address or any information against you. Also your ISP knows that you went to _URL_1_. Oh and if reddit decides to show you one of those adverts, you'll see a \"meet hot girls in < yourarea > tonight!\"\n\nWhen you introduce a proxy, it forwards the request for you. You are telling the proxy 'I want _URL_1_' and the proxy server goes out, gets it for you and sends it back. That makes a big difference. That means that if you browse to reddit using a proxy, reddit sees the proxy's IP address. If it does an IP-address-to-geographical-location-lookup, it will think you are wherever the proxy server is, rather than your actual location, so it might say \"meet girls in [low earth orbit](_URL_0_) tonight!\". There are of course many different types of proxies, and some proxies will forward your IP address to the server, others will hide it for you and anonymize you as much as possible. \n\nExample usage: the front page of reddit almost always has some Colbert video clip which everyone is celebrating together and you are left out because you are a pitiful foreigner. Well, you could go through a proxy based in the US. Because Colbert's website sees the proxy's IP address, it may think you are in the US and let you watch the video.\n\nOther examples, suppose you want to visit a website which you are not comfortable leaving your 'information' on. Think torrent sites. You went to a torrent site and downloaded a car. A few days later, authorities seize their servers and your IP address is on their web server logs. They can find you then. So what some people do is they browse the torrent site through a proxy and download a car. When the servers are seized, all the authorities see are the proxy's IP address. Whether or not they can get YOUR IP address from that proxy server depends on the proxy server owner. The owner may choose to not store any info about you at all and the owner may choose to store the info. \n\n\n\n",
"Think of your Internet service provider like a concerned parent. They may be strict or they may not care what you do unless you draw a lot of attention to yourself. Either way they tend to try and keep an eye on what you are doing and listen out for trouble when you are within earshot but out of sight. \n\nWhen you play outside or up in your room you call out to your brother asking him to do stuff that is part of the game you are playing. Your parents hear this and will notice if you ask him to do something naughty that they would not like. \n\nA VPN is like having two foreign exchange students staying in the house for the summer. Now you can whisper to one German kid what you want and he can shout that in German to the other German kid who then speaks or shouts the English version to your brother. \n\nYour parents know something is being shouted back and forth between you and your brother but since they don't speak German they don't have a clue what is being said. They know what the second German kid is saying because he uses English but they don't know if he is speaking for you or for some other kid because lots of kids use the German kids this way. \n\nThe best German kids to use for this would be German kids with a short term memory problem. After a few minutes they forget what they were told and who said it to them. Now even if the parents ask the German kids what was going on and who was involved they honestly don't know. \n\nSome kids who are doing nothing naughty at all might choose to do this thing with the German kids just for the sake of having privacy or to make it harder for the parents to figure out which other kids are being naughty. \n\nNow, other people in the neighborhood listening in only hear the German kid shouting and have no clue who is whispering in his ear because if you recall he provides this service to lots of different kids. If a house gets toilet papered the only thing that the neighbor who owns that house can do is ask the German kid questions or ask all local parents if their kids were the ones who planned the prank. \n\nIf the German kid has a memory loss and your parents only heard German which they don't understand then no one can point the finger at you. Your parents know you said something and for how long you spoke but not what was said. \n\nIn the above example the two German kids are the encrypted tunnel and the second German kid is the proxy. To the world at large the second German kid is the one asking questions or giving instructions but he is really a \"proxy\", simply relaying what you want. The short term memory problem is similar to VPN servers that don't keep log files. The German language is the encryption used to cover your tracks. "
]
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[
"http://xkcd.com/713/",
"reddit.com"
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95tspw | what science in a car allows it to be able to tow heavy loads? | My 2.0L 4cyl sedan back in the day was rated to tow 1000kg but my current 5.0L V8 is not rated to tow at all, in-fact if I towed anything with it I'd void the warranty. I assumed that power is needed for the tow rating but it doesn't seem like it's the case. Is it all in the chassis? Or is there something else at play here? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/95tspw/eli5_what_science_in_a_car_allows_it_to_be_able/ | {
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"Your engine has to be strong enough to pull the load.\n\nYour transmission has to be strong enough to handle the load.\n\nYour chassis has to be strong enough to carry the load.\n\nYour springs and shocks have to be strong enough to carry the load.\n\nYour brakes have to be strong enough to stop the load.",
"Bit of column A, bit of column B there. But really it's almost everything about the vehicle.\n\nObviously the engine plays a big part in what the vehicle is capable of getting moving, but it's not everything. \n\nThe transmission actually needs to be geared a certain way that general-use vehicles just aren't. \n\nThe car/truck's frame and axles need to be strong enough to pull extra weight. Just because it can load a lot in the trunk or bed doesn't necessarily mean it can handle towing, because keep in mind that force is coming from a completely different direction.\n\nAnd then there's the brakes. Just because it can physically get moving doesn't mean it can stop. ",
"Others have basically answered your question, but I wanted to add something. \n\nYour new vehicle, drivetrain wise, has the capability to tow. The maker may have chosen to mark it as incapable. They may not have mounts for towing, and they may not have “rated” it, but it has the ability if a tow bar were added. T\n\nOut of curiosity, what vehicle do you have? I’m just curious what makers are out there not rating their vehicles. "
]
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[],
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|
ai3eyb | why did space shuttle have a rounded nose cone, instead of having a longer but sharper one? | I know the shape of nose cone was supposed to reduce the resistance and heat upon entering the atmosphere from space, but wouldn't sharper and longer nose be better for that? Like, wouldn't the sharper shape create less friction with atmosphere and be better at dividing streams of air than shorter but more rounded shape? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ai3eyb/eli5_why_did_space_shuttle_have_a_rounded_nose/ | {
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"No actually. At speeds well above super Sonic, a pointed nose punches through the shock wave, and things get ugly. The relatively blunt front causes the shock wave to build up in front of the craft, and actually protects the front of the vehicle.",
"First, the shuttle does not re-enter the atmosphere like a bullet, nose first. It actually presents at an angle which presents the belly of the Craft for a larger surface area and resistance. \n\n[NASA technical report on aerodynamic challenges](_URL_1_) \n\n[step by step - simple terms](_URL_0_) ",
"You're conflating the design of supersonic aircraft with spacecraft. There are some common design considerations, but they do very different things. Supersonic aircraft are designed fly and be highly maneuverable at medium supersonic speeds (mach 2-3) at altitudes of roughly 14,000 meters (45,000 ft) or less. The space shuttle was designed to launch vertically and then land as a glider from entry interface at an altitude of 122,000 meters (400,000 ft) and decelerate from mach 25 to subsonic speeds.\n\nSpacecraft are never designed to be streamlined for atmospheric entry. The entire point is to be as blunt as possible. This dissipates heat away from the spacecraft and decelerates it. Look at every space capsule designed. They're fat and blunt and enter the atmosphere with the widest part facing forwards. The space shuttle did the same thing. It didn't point down.[It entered the atmosphere with its nose pointed up 40 degrees](_URL_0_). This creates lift and deceleration which is want you want for atmospheric entry. You do NOT want to be streamlined."
]
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[],
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"https://science.howstuffworks.com/space-shuttle7.htm",
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"https://www.real-world-physics-problems.com/images/physics_airplanes_2.png"
]
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|
1p20dj | how does ups work? | I have two packages being sent to me. I live 23 miles from the main distribution center in Earth City, MO. Package #1 arrived at carrier facility on Tuesday, October 22, 2013 at 4:14 PM. Package #2 left San Pablo, CA at 3:31 PM. Both packages are scheduled to arrive on Friday.
How does UPS work? Yesterday I had one 23 miles away from me, and one 2,000 miles away. How am I getting them at the same time? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1p20dj/how_does_ups_work/ | {
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"One package may have made it to your local distribution center on Wednesday, the other may not arrive until Thursday, but that does not really matter. What matters is that you will have paid for a shipping service to deliver on (presumably) Friday.\n\n\n\nIn order to deliver the package to your front door, they need to get the packages to you before mid-day on Friday (or whatever you opted and paid for). It is simple logistics. Why would they send a driver to your house with the first package today, only to send him again on Friday? It is exceptionally inefficient for them to send the driver twice.... even if the van drives past your house every day, it will take 2 mins for him to park up, find the package, come to your front door, ring, have you sign it, go back to the van and move on. Sure, its only 2 mins, but when that 2 mins is scaled up to thousands of vans across 365 days a year, 2 mins becomes many days of time which adds cost.\n\nCompanies like UPS pay a fortune for logistics software to ensure that all packages are delivered in the most efficient route in order to reduce this cost and wasted time. In your case, the most efficient route is to wait until both packages are at the same distribution hub before delivering them both in the same sweep.\n\n",
"hub and spoke."
]
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[],
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2uui8f | why is palestine at war with israel, when it was the british and french who went against their word and put israel there? | Shouldn't Palestine be angry at the British and French who won the land in WWII, promised to give it to Palestine, then took it back and decided to put Israel there, rather than Israel itself? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2uui8f/eli5_why_is_palestine_at_war_with_israel_when_it/ | {
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"text": [
"Sure...They are angry at Britain and France but those countries are a thousand miles away and Israel is right in their backyard."
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2xyec2 | why do languages develop words with double meanings? (like "right" in english) | words that mean different things on different contexts. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2xyec2/eli5why_do_languages_develop_words_with_double/ | {
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"Possibly because the 'same' word came from two different places. More often, though, it's just a branching out from the original meaning. The word 'right' is a good example given how many things it can mean, but really, in a certain sense, it means the same thing. \n\n[Check this out.](_URL_0_) 'Right' came from the original meaning of being straight, unbent, etc. These qualities were seen as being good, so the 'right thing to do' was what was demanded by ethics, duty or whatever\n\nThe right hand is the right one because everybody used it, and the use of the left hand as a dominant hand was seen as outright incorrect throughout a lot of history for English speakers. \n\nIt got turned into a verb: to make something right was to right it.\n\nMeaning 'straight' also meant it made sense to say: \"It's coming right for us!\"\n\nWe long since stopped thinking of 'right' as meaning straight and direct because it started getting used more often than not for a few cases. In makes perfect sense looking back, though."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=right"
]
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|
5uu4ze | exactly how much of the u.s. economy depends on labor from illegal immigrants? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5uu4ze/eli5_exactly_how_much_of_the_us_economy_depends/ | {
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"text": [
"It's hard to know exactly because it hasn't happened yet, but a [conservative think tank estimated that Donald Trump's plan would shrink the US economy by 2%.](_URL_0_) The US economy would shrink by about 400 to 600 billion dollars."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-deportations-idUSKCN0XW0TP"
]
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||
1yrhos | search engine optimization. if i make a website and i want others to find it through a search engine. a huge topic but is there a way to explain it like i'm 5. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1yrhos/eli5_search_engine_optimization_if_i_make_a/ | {
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"text": [
"[Google has a website explaining the basics of SEO](_URL_0_)."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://www.google.com/webmasters/"
]
] |
||
4r8vpl | how do animals like human babies and puppies learn their name and language? | This is less about dogs and more about babies. When babies are born, they have had about 9 months of listening to the language native to the area their mother lived in but don't have the ability to speak or understand language. How does a baby learn that it is referred to by a certain name, and that it should react to that name, and how do they learn what words mean? Even the word "meaning" needs a meaning. They need to understand the meanings themselves, but how? I'm sorry this is so long, but if you read this far, thank you. All answers appreciated, thanks in advance! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4r8vpl/eli5_how_do_animals_like_human_babies_and_puppies/ | {
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"Comparing animals and humans is comparing *qualitatively* different things. Animals do not learn languages or their names, they recognize sounds. Dogs have also evolved over thousands of years to be very sensitive to human moods and emotions. They do not \"understand language\" in any meaningful sense. And yes, I'm including the so-called \"sign language apes\" there. That research is *extremely* sloppy and scientifically suspect.\n\nWe know little about humans develop their language abilities, but it is quite likely that they start off by recognizing sounds, just like other animals. However, at some point, sentience kicks in and they begin to associate the sounds with language concepts. Human brains have evolved to *be able to* understand language concepts, their brains can make the physical neural connections necessary to process abstract language. Other animal brains, as far as we know, cannot make those connection.\n\nAnd that little step took humans quite a long time to develop. Anatomically-modern humans arose ~200,000 years ago, but we have no evidence that they developed modern, complex language skills for nearly another 100,000 years.\n\nWe CAN infer that learning adult skills like language involves the creation of neural pathways, and isn't just a matter of memorization. Very young children simply cannot grasp certain simple concepts. For example, if you have a tall, thin glass and you fill it full of marbles, and then pour those into a low, flat dish, kids younger than about 4 are simply unable to grasp that it's the same number of marbles in both, they don't have the \"circuits\" that allow them to perform spatial reasoning like that.\n\n"
]
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4dkeft | where did the term "one nation under god" come from? the us pledge of allegiance, originally penned in the 1800's, didn't mention anything religious until a revision in the 1950's - how/why did this revision happen? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4dkeft/eli5_where_did_the_term_one_nation_under_god_come/ | {
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"It was during the Cold War, Communist states were state atheist so it was a symbolic gesture to show that we were not communist.",
"Because Commies.\n\nThe idea there was to emphasize that the US was a pious, godly nation under (a Christian) god, unlike the godless atheistic commies. At that time, non-Christians and atheists weren't a big enough minority for the government to even pretend to pay any lip service to the whole \"separation of church and state\" thing.\n\nIronically, the pledge was written by a *socialist* minister, Francis Bellamy, who also came up with a [rather familiar salute](_URL_0_) to be used with it, which was in use in the US until sometime in the 1930s. \n\nThe pledge was written with only the purest of American Ideals in mind: capitalism. The idea was to get kids reciting the thing in schools, and thus sell a fuckton of American flags. The plan succeeded.\n\n",
"The Pledge of Allegiance was written by a Baptist socialist minister, Francis Bellamy. And popularized by James Upham to help sell flags that accompanied his magazines. The history of the Pledge is a perfect summation of America's true values, using religion to sell nationalism, and make money for a few people behind the marketing. \n\n[ > In 1892, Ford’s right-hand marketing man, James B. Upham, was tasked with coining a marketing gimmick that would inspire schools to buy more flags. Upham, in a spurt of genius, decided to monetize patriotism by creating a “pledge” in which children would declare their undying love for America. He hired Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to write something that could easily be recited in “15 seconds or less.”](_URL_0_) ",
"It's also worth noting that the meaning of the phrase has changed over the life of the United States. When Abraham Lincoln uses the phrase in the Gettysburg Address in 1863:\n\n > It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, **under God**, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.\n\nYou could have replaced it with the phrase, \"God willing\" or \"with God's help\", and didn't mean \"We are all Christian\"."
]
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute"
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"http://priceonomics.com/the-marketing-of-the-pledge-of-allegiance/"
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||
120236 | how are military units numbered? | This is something I always wondered, for example, when I was in the Yugoslav army I remember a 276th Artillery Battalion (might have messed up the numbers there) being in our brigade, but there was no 275th or 274th battalion etc. in existence as far as I was aware.
My unit was neatly numbered as 2nd Mountain Infantry Battalion (don't know how to translate it otherwise, but there were 7 of them)
So why was there a 276th? I'm sure we didn't have 300 artillery battalions idling around Yugoslavia... | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/120236/how_are_military_units_numbered/ | {
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"first off, props to a fellow ex-yugoslav.\n\nsecondly, I don't think there is any special explanation behind the way military units or formations are numbered. I'd wager (potential) enemy deception being the primary motivator here. \n\nIIRC Brits in the African theatre during WWII purposely used some fake unit numbers to create phantom divisions and fool the Germans into thinking they deployed far more men. But that's more in the realm of military subterfuge, which was in abundance during the desert warfare of 1942 and 1943.\n\nAmericans also made up an army group ([Patton's Ghost Army](_URL_0_) - the First US Army Group) in the operation Quiksilver to deceive the Germans on the location of France landings.",
"While I can't speak for the Yugoslavic army, in the US military the unit you are with is a historic unit, often dating back hundreds of years.\n\nUnits used to be a lot smaller, so thus, there were a lot more of them. As units got bigger, they absorbed the other unit based on the rank of the commander. So if I was a major in charge of the 276th and you were a captain in charge of the 275th, you joined my unit. We didn't change the name because of the history of my unit. \n",
"I believe that most armies number units successively (one after the other), and the the role of the unit doesn't change this.\n\nAs you said, the 276th might be an artillery battalion, but the 277th might be infantry, or armour, or engineers. The number 276 doesn't mean the 275 battalions before it were also artillery."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://www.americainwwii.com/articles/pattons-ghost-army/"
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4czwad | how does united arab emirates only have a ~26% women population | See here for [source](_URL_0_). Same questions go for similar countries.
Walk me through why, what happens to the men, and their population in the future?
Thanks
| explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4czwad/eli5_how_does_united_arab_emirates_only_have_a_26/ | {
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"UAE and other Gulf Arab states have huge populations of migrant workers. Most of them are from the Indian subcontinent. In fact, South Asians constitute about half of the total population. However, they aren't citizens, or permanent residents, and have very little rights. Most of them are badly exploited by their employers, and there to work and send money back to their families. Consequently, most of them are men. Some women work in hospitality and as nannies, etc, but the vast majority of migrant workers are men. The Emrati population has a normal distribution.",
"UAE has a massive guest worker program. Almost all the blue collar jobs are held by migrant workers from Africa, India/Bangladesh, and Indonesia. Some of the middle management jobs are held by Europeans. \n\nThey have a lot of restrictions on women getting spouse or work visas in UAE, so a lot of these migrant workers are there by themselves. \n\nThey're there, part to the local population, so it skews the male:female ratios."
]
} | [] | [
"http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL.FE.ZS?order=wbapi_data_value_2014+wbapi_data_value+wbapi_data_value-last&sort=asc"
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[],
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9olkci | how does binary code translate into, for example, a 4k movie? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9olkci/eli5_how_does_binary_code_translate_into_for/ | {
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"You've got your movie file downloaded, on a disk or on a USB. Firstly, the video player will open it and detect the file format so it knows how to read it.\n\nOnce open, it'll start reading the file data line by line. Each bit of data will represent a pixel in an individual frame of the movie, which is quickly (usually 24 times a second, or 24FPS for movies) updated with a new pixel.\n\nThe file data is stored on the storage device as binary in its lowest form, so when it's reading that file it's reading all that binary data and making sense of it.",
"Binary code is just numbers. Only instead of counting: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... you count: 0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101. Both are exactly the same thing, just represented differently.\n\nThen, a movie is just a set of images. For a 4K movie you have 3840 columns by 2160 rows. Each pixel is divided in red, green and blue components, which normally has 8 bits for each. So you have a value from 0 to 255 for each of red, green, and blue. 0 would be black, 255 would be 100% red, green or blue. 128 would be 50%.\n\nA combination of red, green and blue mixes to create different colors thanks to the way our eyes work.\n\nIn practice of course 4K movies are heavily compressed, as the space requirements for uncompressed 4K video is enormous.\n",
"A video is composed of a series of images. For example, a typical movie is a series of 24 images per second.\n\nAn image is composed of a series of dots called \"pixels\".\n\nA pixel's colour and brightness are expressed in terms of how much red, green and blue light it emits. These measurements, like any other number, can be stored as ones and zeroes.\n\nThat's how \"raw\" video works, anyway.\n\n & #160;\n\nA funny thing is, if you do the math,\n\n 3,840 pixels wide\n × 2,160 pixels high\n × 3 colour channels per pixel\n × 8 bits per colour channel\n\t÷ 8 bits per byte\n × 24 images per second\n × 3,600 seconds per hour\n × 1.5 hours for a typical movie\n ------------\n ~ 3,224,863,000,000\n\nit would take more than three ***trillion*** bytes of storage for a typical movie to be stored in 4k in raw form. A Blu-ray disc can only hold about 100 ***billion*** bytes of data. So how do they do it?\n\nCompression.\n\nCompression basically uses a bunch of simplification and mathematical tricks to reduce how much data each image takes and how much needs to be recalculated or redrawn for the next image. And that's a whole new can of worms. But, it's one that would hardly be touchable without understanding the basics of raw video first."
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6mq9w2 | how does public transportation work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6mq9w2/eli5_how_does_public_transportation_work/ | {
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"One thing to keep in mind if you're looking at the route schedules online is that in many cases they're compressed and only list key timepoint stops. \n\nFor example, if you look at the posted schedule of [one bus](_URL_0_) near where I live it lists 11 stops. In reality, the route has 70 stops, but most of them it will only stop at if someone wants to get on or off. \n\nFor Tri-State in particular, there seems to be a [more detailed map](_URL_1_) that shows many more stops than the route schedules posted online. You can click on the map during the day to get real time updates as to what routes will be stopping when at a particular stop (right now most of the routes just show \"no departures in the next 120 minutes\"). \n\nIf your stop is listed on there, then yes, you should wait at the bus stop and the bus should stop for you.",
"Once you figure out a possible route/bus, do a practice run at the right time of day (and day of week) before classes start. And *ask the driver* when you get on his/her bus if your plan makes sense or if there is a better method. If they suggest another route, do a practice run of that. (So don't wait til the last few days before class starts.) "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://www.riversidetransit.com/images/stories/DOWNLOADS/ROUTES/001.pdf",
"http://70.88.164.93:8081/portal/fr2/index.jsf"
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] |
||
2jz0ux | why is it that i feel like i've been hit by a train after taking a nap | As far as i'm aware sleep cycles last for roughly 90 minutes, however regardless if I nap for 30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes, I feel worse than I did beforehand.
Without fail the following occurs: Extremely dry throat/mouth, groggy, bad mood, dehydrated - regardless of making an effort to drink a few glasses of water before taking the nap. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2jz0ux/eli5_why_is_it_that_i_feel_like_ive_been_hit_by_a/ | {
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"What you described sounds like if you wake up in the middle of a deep sleep phase - if it happens even if you put an alarm clock 30 minutes after you lay down it means you fall asleep veeeery fast :D\n\nIt's all about testing, since everyone is different: for me, a 20 minute power nap works the best, I don't really fall asleep but it's enough for a quick charge of my battery :)\n\nYou could ask more [here](_URL_0_)",
"This sounds a lot like sleep inertia. According to a theory for the cause: a chemical called adenosine builds up in the brain during sleep possibly causing tiredness upon waking up. It can last from ten minutes up to four hours. _URL_0_ "
]
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27y1qr | eli 5: do microscopic organisms such as dust mites have mini predators that hunt them | does in happen in incredibly slow motion (as i was brought to believe that they live ) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/27y1qr/eli_5_do_microscopic_organisms_such_as_dust_mites/ | {
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"Yes, there are predatory mites, Cheyletus sp. ",
"As far as your speed (temporal perception) is concerned, generally; the smaller you get the more rapidly things occur. \n \nFor example: a whale reacts proportionally more slowly to its surroundings < than a human < than a mouse < than a spider < than molecular level organisms. \n \nThis is due to the innate laws of physics, which govern the speed and process of reactions. Simply put; in order to overcome the forces acting in the universe (Strong, Weak, Electromagnetic, Gravity) - large objects require exponentially more energy, which typically takes more time to generate/transfer/transmit."
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359xqd | what is proprietary about tesla's powerwall battery? | I'm trying to establish the hype. Main component seems to be a lithium-ion battery which is existing technology. Is it the design? Is the battery used not available to consumers? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/359xqd/eli5_what_is_proprietary_about_teslas_powerwall/ | {
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"Not much really. The hype is mostly marketing, but it will be very popular on Reddit because Musk and Tesla are a big champion here. Reddit is mostly young ideal college aged males who are very passionate about wanting to change the world without fully realizing just how difficult it is to to that because of established systems that are already in place and also having to deal with the countless realities of life that slow progress. Elon Musk promises the things that the idealistic side of our brains like to hear, and they give hope to an otherwise bleak future of NSA-style governmental overreach, the military industrial complex, resource shortages, the futility of \"democracy\" with a two-party system, etc. \n\nSadly, the reality is that Musk is mostly a hype-man, like Little John. He gets you excited by the way he presents things, but when you boil it down, he's not really saying much. He's an expert at marketing, but has accomplished very little real change for society yet. That's not to discredit Elon or Tesla, but more credit than is due is often attributed to both in /r/news, /r/technology, /r/science, etc because people need something to embrace, and Elon is about the best we've got at the moment. The powerwall might end up being an everyday household object, or it may be replaced shortly after it's debut. Tesla may end up being the car of the future, or it might be replaced by something totally different or a different company that does it better. Either way, until average people can afford the stuff he's peddling, Tesla and Elon will continue to exclusively make toys for the rich to feel better about their carbon footprint with.\n\nAll this being said, cars started out as toys for the rich, as did planes and personal computers.\n"
]
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71bu8f | do spiders vary their web mesh density based on the nutrition they're getting? | I imagine that since web spinning requires resources from the spider, a well-fed spider might weave a more dense mesh into their web than a malnourished spider, thereby catching even more food. Or, do spiders spin their webs based on a genetic blueprint, and their food intake plays no part in it?
If the second is the case, it stands to reason that a spider, over time, will eventually get to the point of spinning a web so sparse that it doesn't catch enough food to outweigh the demands on it from web spinning.
| explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/71bu8f/eli5_do_spiders_vary_their_web_mesh_density_based/ | {
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"First, spider silk is *highly* variable, even within a single animal. Those spiders that spin webs are capable of producing numerous different kinds of silk, e.g., the thicker fibers used for the web's basic structure, sticky fibers used to trap prey, different sticky fibers to wrap/encase prey after it's caught, thinner fibers used to make egg cocoons, and a kind of silk \"glue\" used to attach different strands to each other. So the idea that spider silk is just wrong.\n\nSecond, no, spiders do not appear to deliberately modify the \"density\" of their webs based upon how well-fed they are. They may wind up with a larger or smaller web, or may not be able to finish a web they've started, but there's no \"discount model\". \n\nThird, not all spiders weave new webs every day, or even on any regular basis. Cobwebs stay up basically indefinitely. Spiders who weave them may more-or-less constantly add to them, but the structure of cobwebs is far more complicated than your stereo-typical \"woven\" web, not to mention in three dimensions. And there are some spiders that will weave a single, large web and spend days or weeks maintaining it. So yes, it's a significant metabolic investment, but there's often more than plenty of time to recoup that investment.\n\nBut lastly, a lot of spiders simply eat their webs when they're finished. Particularly the ones that spin new webs every day. This *drastically* cuts down on the metabolic \"overhead\" required to spin a new web, and would seem to entirely undermine your proposed conclusion.",
"Read [this paper](_URL_0_). It exactly answers your question for orb weavers.\n\nYes. Spiders that are deprived of hunger will actually put more energy into their webs and make the mesh narrower to catch even the smaller insects. The study observed that they make their stabilimentum (zig-zag pattern in orb weaver webs) differently as well: the one food-deprived spiders make is more energy costly."
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4xn2z1 | what is the scientific reason we get "bad vibes" about a person/place/situation? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4xn2z1/eli5_what_is_the_scientific_reason_we_get_bad/ | {
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"My best bet is subtle body language changes of those around us that we subliminally pick up on.",
"Well, I was mainly asking because I was reading a thread fr a year ago about \"who is the scariest person you have ever met\". And the one about meeting Ted Bundy stood out. Like, all he did was smile and shook the anons mother's hand and they got a \"bad vibe\" and ended up driving away. But what made Anon just automatically not like him if he was handsome and presumably charming and smiling? It's just a question that's bothered me today.",
"Humans are good at pattern recognition and you will subconsciously connect those \"new\" patterns to old ones, comparing the person to a situation you've already experienced. \n\nI can't find the link but there was a study proving that people will follow previous decisions subconsciously without realizing it. The participants had to choose items based on a set of rules, but when given a new set of rules they would still choose items that also fit the old rules. "
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2nltou | what's the technical difference between a green screen and a blue screen (besides the fact that one is green and the other is blue)? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2nltou/eli5_whats_the_technical_difference_between_a/ | {
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"That's it. The equipment has to be adjusted to key on the color used, and digital cameras tend to work better with green while analog likes blue, but the basic mechanism is the same.",
"Technically, any color can be used. However, green is picked up really well by digital cameras, because of a bunch of physics stuff called luminance. So it can be filtered well by editing software.\n\nBlue works better on film cameras, because the blue particles in film are the smallest and pick up detail well.\n\nSo it depends on how you're filming. Also, blue is good with people because it is complementary to skin tones, whereas say red would mess up an actors skin in post.",
"As others have noted, any color could in theory be used. People tend not to have a lot of green or blue tones in their skin, so that's one reason those colors tend to be used. Back in my cable public access days there were a few knobs to select the color for chroma key. Something we'd play with when bored. ",
"Typically you want a color that contrasts with the subject to make isolation of the subject easier. Basically you're creating a hard edge to make selections that don't effect the subject. So a person is usually reddish on the color spectrum, and green is the complimentary of red, so that's generally going to give the must defined edge as a background. And then the background also needed to be far back enough to avoid reflected light spilling onto the subject and causing a green gradient that could effect separations.\n\nTl;dr no difference and it's decided according to the color of the subject.",
"There's an excellent video about the history of his technique here:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nI found it fascinating, maybe you will too.",
"Ha at first I was thinking of a BSOD and I'm all like \"What green screen.\" Then I realized you meant the one they use in film making. ",
"Oooof, there're a lot of imprecise answers here. Broadcast technician with **nerrrrrd raaaaaage** chiming in.\n\nTL;DR: Blue is best for photochemical processes, green is best for television systems, digital cinema systems largely equally good with both.\n\nBlue is used in film because the blue layer in colour film emulsions have the highest resolving power. [See this Kodak PDF for a quick intro](_URL_0_).\n\nGenerally, electronic sensors, even on the highest-end digital cinema cameras, use a \"[Bayer Pattern](_URL_1_)\", of colour filters on top of the sensor. This means that each pixel is filtered in a certain way. In digital cinema systems, green and blue are sampled at a higher resolution than red, which matches the characteristics of photochemical film (and thus its flattering tendency to slightly blur skin tones).\n\nThe reason that green is used with television cameras has to do with how the signal is encoded electronically, by a relatively complex set of circumstances. Essentially, colour television consists of a black-and-white signal called luminance, and a colouring-in signal called chrominance.\n\nThe chrominance signal is typically at a far lower bandwidth than luminance. In digital terms, this is known as \"chroma subsampling\", notated as for instance 4:2:2, meaning four luminance samples for each of the two chrominance components, component red and component blue. The green colour is calculated by taking what's left of the luminance after red and blue have been subtracted.\n\nThis has the dual benefits of playing to our eyes' strengths (we perceive contrast at far higher resolution than colour) and allowing colour signals to be compatible with black-and-white ones (luminance is a standard black-and-white signal, chrominance just looks like noise on a B & W set)\n\nThe colour green (being perceived by the eye as the brightest of the primary colours) is the colour most closely correlated with luminance, and thus the primary colour captured at the higher resolution."
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"http://www.arri.com/fileadmin/media/arri.com/camera/Digital_Cameras/Workflows/ARRIRAW/ARRIRAW_color_reconstruct.jpg"
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||
2rxa6e | certain news channels are clearly biased and sometimes very misleading. why hasn't this been made illegal yet? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2rxa6e/eli5_certain_news_channels_are_clearly_biased_and/ | {
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"It's called freedom of speech/freedom of the press. Legislating free speech is a very slippery slope. There isn't a single news agency that doesn't show some sort of bias, it's not 'certain' ones like you suggest.",
"Because that's pretty much exactly the thing that protection of free speech is there for. The government can't come in and tell you that you aren't allowed to spread your political opinions. It is not their place to judge those opinions for their merit. "
]
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aoyorw | what are lymph-nodes? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aoyorw/eli5_what_are_lymphnodes/ | {
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"Lymph nodes are like central relay and collection points in your lymph system. White blood cells can hangout here and other debris gets sent to them for destruction or movement out of the body. ",
"So the body has a lot of vessels, right? Those are the highway. Lymph nodes are like a bunch of police stations that connect to the highways, and the white blood cells are like cops. They snatch up the bad guys that pass by (stuff your body wants to get rid of) and take them into the police station, where they’re pretty much executed on the spot."
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2vclnq | why do black people hang around barbershops so much and if they don't, where does this stereotype come from? | I just watched the trailer for the NWA movie and at the beginning (the real part with Ice Cube and Dre) Ice Cube is just meeting with some random dude while he's getting his haircut and they start chatting and stuff. I would think it so strange if some friends of mine walked into my barbershop - they don't even know where it is - and sat down and started talking to me. Why are barbershops apparently social hubs for a lot of people? I heard it's because black hair often needs to be cut once or twice a week so they're in there a lot more often. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2vclnq/eli5_why_do_black_people_hang_around_barbershops/ | {
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"Coming from a family that owns and runs a hair salon, it actually is a social hub for a lot of people. There are many little old ladies and middle aged women who come in very often, sometimes not for a haircut but just for a shampoo so they can chat. We also saw a lot of young men who would come often to flirt with some of the stylists, or to talk about their dating troubles. It is *very* chatty at a salon, especially if you have a stylist you are loyal to. (also very gossipy!)\n\nTo my knowledge, barber shops typically aren't chain brands, so they have a family-owned, small town feel to them that can make it more welcoming. \n\nOn black hair, there used to be and still is a pressure to look more like everyone else, so many black women spend *hours* working on their hair to make it straight and soft like other women, which can mean getting it professionally straightened or permed. Men may just keep it very short to avoid too much poof and having afro style hair, and this requires more upkeep. These days there is a growing \"natural hair\" trend, but a lot of people still go for straight hair look. ",
"Black hair is different than white/asian/native hair, so barbers tend to specialize in one or the other. They were [also one of first busineses that blacks owned an operated](_URL_0_).\n\nThe end result is that they became a safe place for blacks to hang out & talk about things that concern the community or just be comfortable being black."
]
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68plbt | what's up with the white garb nuclear scientists and power plant workers wear? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/68plbt/eli5_whats_up_with_the_white_garb_nuclear/ | {
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"In what context? Do you have an example? I am a nuclear scientist and I wear regular clothes to work.",
"The \"white garb\" is probably referring to [clean room suits](_URL_0_). These are actually more helpful to avoid contamination of the environment by things brought in by the people rather than preventing exposure, but they are inexpensive for film production and most people don't know or care about the differences. They would conceptually be helpful in that they could prevent direct contact with nuclear material and once removed take radioactive material with them so it isn't pointless, but an NBC suit would be superior.",
"They wear clean room suits because alpha radiation or trace residues of nuclear material is encountered incidentally and can be stopped by a single sheet of paper, but can be extremely dangerous if ingested. \n\nClean room suits eliminate that possibility by covering any parts of the body that might be touched by contaminated material. "
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2dpmuj | why can i lift something heavy one day and not the next ? | something like 100 pound one day then the next i cant lift something near or half of that weight. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2dpmuj/eli5why_can_i_lift_something_heavy_one_day_and/ | {
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"text": [
"Because your muscles tear and, until they're repaired, they're weakened. It's like a cooldown on a D & D spell."
]
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9wlix1 | how to cook eggs | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9wlix1/eli5_how_to_cook_eggs/ | {
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"text": [
"Seasoning is your friend. Start with basic seasonings like salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and go from there. You can get seasoning blends like adobo premixed to make it easier. ",
"Edit: I misread this as asking for the easiest thing to cook. Sorry. I'll leave this up in case it's of use to you.\n\n\nTry white rice first. Take a pot. Put in 1 cup rice and 1.5 cups water. (Use a measuring cup and be accurate). Turn the heat on high and leave the pot uncovered. When bubbles start to break the surface of the water, put the lid on and turn the heat down to a little tiny bit hotter then low. Don't lift the lid or touch the pot for 20min (set an alarm because you don't want to overdo or underdo it). When 20m is up, turn off the rice and stir it up with a fork, this is called fluffing it. Get all the way to the bottom of the pan so the stuff at the bottom doesn't return crispy. \nBoom, you've got perfect fluffy white rice. Serve as a side dish with whatever the next thing you learn to cook is. Top with soy sauce if you want. "
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||
823ib6 | why is fish (or sea food) so much softer than mammal meat? | Context: I was cooking fish a few minutes ago and wondered why it seemed to cook so much faster than other meat. As I ate it and actually paid attention to fish as a meat in comparison to other meats, I recognized that fish also seems a lot softer than something like a steak. I came up with a few hypothesis - like differences of diet between animals - but am interested in maybe getting someone with actual knowledge on the matter chime in. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/823ib6/eli5_why_is_fish_or_sea_food_so_much_softer_than/ | {
"a_id": [
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"Basically fish have less collagen that attaches muscle to bone because fish don't need the skeleton to support them because they swim in the water every day. Also their muscle fibers are shorter that's why when you eat fully cooked fish you notice the pieces fall apart in consistent chunks.",
"unlike a pig or cow, Fish do not need the amount of muscle to support their weight because they float in water. "
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2tmjtt | how do nature documentaries get /those/ shots? | So I was watching Planet Earth yesterday and I was, once again, stunned by some of the shots. You know those shots from the weirdest angles, filming the rarest events in nature, from really close, seemingly without disturbing the animals? So... How the hell do the filmmakers even get these shots? How do they know where to place their cameras? How do they not disturb the animals? How much work goes into it? How much planning? Is there ever any controversy because the filmmakers did in fact disturb animals? HOW DOES IT WORK?
Thanks guys! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2tmjtt/eli5_how_do_nature_documentaries_get_those_shots/ | {
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"This isn't an answer but this probably will interest you. I'm not sure if you have watched it or not but the documentary series Human Planet may interest you! \n\nAt the end of every episode they have a segment on the camera techniques used on a particular segment. It is **really** interesting to watch! I recommend the rest of the series as well of course, its one of my favourites. The series deals with documenting humans not animals however so there isn't issues with 'disturbing' the content being filmed but it does exhibit really out-of-the-box techniques used. ",
"Some luck and hours and hours of filming nothing. You can spend days filming just to get 5 minutes of usable footage.",
"Regarding Planet Earth in particular, they spent a shit ton of hours getting seconds of footage. They can be sitting waiting in a three for literally days just to get that one shot of the giraffes fighting each other. \n\nIt's really that simple; lots of money, and lots of patience. "
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2dm6ob | if resolution has reached its maximum that eyes can detect, why do videos not appear with same clarity as looking through a window? | _URL_0_
I read this thread which made complete sense from a theoretical perspective. If all of this is true, I dont understand why "real life" has so much more "clairty" than anything I see with a device. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2dm6ob/eli5_if_resolution_has_reached_its_maximum_that/ | {
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"text": [
"because light is so much more than pixels.\n\nThink of it like this: I can take a picture, with lets say 1280x720p resolution put it on my realLife UHD^^TM 12K TV and notice it doesn't take up the full picture, so to fix this, I upscale my 720p (~.92 K) all the way up to 12K. Well, it fits all the pixels, but is a blurry horrendous piece of crap!\n\nWhen it comes to images, resolution is not all that matters. When it comes to pictures, Bit Rate Aperture of the camera, the focal length, and the sensor all come together to make the image color more accurate, more clear, more detailed, and more balanced.",
"I don't know if this is correct, but I'm guessing the lack of parallax when viewing a video gives the impression that we're viewing something on a 2 dimensional surface, which is different than viewing a 3 dimensional world through a window. \n\nI'm not sure how they would appear different if a video had a parallax effect.",
"This is a good thread. I would also like to know why FPS (frames per second) is so important. James Cameron said in an interview \"Avatar 2 will be in 60 FPS (compared to traditional 24 or 30fps) and it would be like till now you were looking outside through a window and now we are removing the glass from the window\". I know he exagerrated, but still why does FPS matters for visual clarity"
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4vznik | why does the beam from a tv remote control show up as blue/purple on a camera? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4vznik/eli5_why_does_the_beam_from_a_tv_remote_control/ | {
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"text": [
"Because digital camera sensors are sensitive to the infra-red light remotes give off, invisible to us, and will reproduce it as purple visible light. \n\nThere are filters built into the camera to try and minimize this effect, but as can be seen, the filtering isn't perfect. "
]
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||
3a3oo1 | who controls information classified above "top secret", like cosmic level classified information? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3a3oo1/eli5_who_controls_information_classified_above/ | {
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"text": [
"No one, because there is no such thing.\n\nIt's Top Secret, compartmentalized , need to know.\n\nI have no idea which conspiracy whack jobs website you got the information, but you should probably stop visiting it.",
"COSMIC is another/equivalent name for Top Secret classification when used in NATO. Top Secret = COSMIC\n\nAs for Top Secret info, who controls \"above\" this info... well there really isnt \"above\" top secret. There are lots of different Top Secret, called SCI (Secure compartmentalized information). Basically, stuff on a need to know only basis. You only get what you *need*, and even then you are limited to only so much, to ensure you can't ever know everything. Almost all Top Secret info is in some form of SCI.\n\nAnd just because you have SCI access, doesn't mean you can look at all the stuff you want under that specific SCI, you only get what you need."
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1jdpwf | what is that "feeling" you get when you're near someone even if you can't see them. | This seems to be some kind of "sixth sense" that people can detect when someone is near them or watching them without ever seeing anyone. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1jdpwf/eli5_what_is_that_feeling_you_get_when_youre_near/ | {
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"I don't know the exact name of it but my understanding of it is this. We're all taught from children that we have 5 senses. That's not necessarily the case, especially when you count the definition of a sense. For example, close your eyes and touch the tip of your elbow. You were able to find it perfectly without even looking. How? Some scientists would consider this a sense. Just like this ability to tell that someone is near even when you can't see them would be a sense. Moderate estimates put the number of senses around 100 or more.\r\rEdit: more like 20 according to the guy below me.",
"Many people have many different explanations for this phenomenon, but the most believed theory is the feeling comes from a combination of our brains noticing shadows and such in our peripheral vision without us noticing them directly, and our nerves subtle ability to feel the static electricity coming from other peoples body's.",
"It's not a sixth sense; it's one of your five senses. It's your hearing.\n\nEven the most quiet room has small amounts of ambient noise (in film, they even have a name for it, called \"room tone\" or \"presence\"). Our brains are evolved to detect the direction of sound and how it \"wraps\" around us.\n\nWhen someone is near you, their presence disrupts the subtle sound reflections, causing a stereophonic \"hole\". The room tone will sound slightly different to each ear, having the brain sense something is there in that hole, with 3D precision.\n\nBats use a more evolved version of this to see in the dark. They make chirps and hear the reflections to determine their surroundings.\n\nBlind people tapping their canes can \"see\" by using two senses: touch (feeling the vibrations in the cane), and hearing (noting the sound of the cane sound, but also how the reflected echo sounds).\n\n_URL_0_\n"
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5xexg2 | why do subreddits need moderators when reddit's voting system filters bad posts/comments? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5xexg2/eli5_why_do_subreddits_need_moderators_when/ | {
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"Because some redditors are assholes, pedophiles, or break reddit TOS other ways.\n\nAlso if you're making posts about the inevitable heat death of the universe and dark matter on the One Piece subreddit, there's a good chance you're taking the sub off topic and your posts will be removed by the mods.\n\nEven if something gets downvoted to oblivion, it still exists. Mods exist to erase.",
"Also they can sticky posts that may not organically get upvoted enough to stay on top, such as announcements and discussion threads.\n\nThe same announcement could get posted by 10 different people, but if you see the post stickied already then you wouldn't post it because everybody already knows."
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2jjm2q | why does it cost more to rent an apartment for one person than it costs to rent an apartment for multiple people? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2jjm2q/eli5_why_does_it_cost_more_to_rent_an_apartment/ | {
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"Apartments with more bedrooms tend to be more expensive. However, an apartment with two bedrooms is not twice as expensive as an apartment with only one bedroom. Thus splitting the rent of a large apartment is cheaper per-person than paying the rent themselves for a smaller apartment.",
"Because a bachelor apartment requires a kitchen, some living space, a bathroom, etc.\n\nA two-bedroom apartment requires all the same stuff + one other bedroom.\n\nBasically the common areas and utilities to bedrooms ratio goes down. Considering a huge amount of your costs are going to be in the common areas and utilities it's far more cost effective to have 2 or 3 bedrooms and people to fill them. "
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4oy4mt | universal basic income. if every citizen over 18 receives $1,000 a month then what would stop the cost of living to rise and negate the income being received? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4oy4mt/eli5_universal_basic_income_if_every_citizen_over/ | {
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"Prices likely will rise in places that implement it. This will *partially* negate the increase in wealth some people experience. But prices don't automatically rise with income--they can be \"sticky\" and resistant to change. It's also important to remember the money supply isn't increasing; such programs are usually intended to be paid for by progressive taxes, meaning some people are losing wealth and that money is being redistributed.\n\nThe experience with minimum wage increases is that they do tend to increase prices, but not to the extent the effect of the increase is eliminated altogether.\n\nEdit: That's not to say that it's necessarily good economic policy, but the idea that the policy's effect will be wholly cancelled out is unlikely.",
"First off, one of the tenets of UBI is it is \"offset\" by eliminating social programs like housing, utilities, medical benefits, food programs, and what not so \"$1000/mo\" won't cut it. So realistically you're talking about ~2000-3000/mo or more depending on where you're living.\n\nSecond, now multiply that shit by the number of of-age tax payers (e.g. 18+). In America that amounts to over a trillion dollars.\n\nThird, now divide that by the number of 1%ers. Realize they'll be paying > 100% average income tax to pay for this. So that won't work, clearly middle class people will be paying for it.\n\nThe problem with UBI is you're basically trying to simulate an entire economy for low income people based on nothing but the productivity of others. It's not like magically there's a couple trillion in new productivity created the instant you turn UBI on.\n\nMost UBI proponents go through the 5 stages of grief ... they deny there's a problem with the math, then they are angry and lash out at people who are against it, then they try to bargain e.g. \"well what if UBI was progressive or means tested?\" then they get depressed at the reality that there's no free lunch and then they accept it.\n\nedit: spelling is hard",
"the only way this would somewhat work is if the gov' gave people only a minimum income, without any healthcare, education etc. give people the money and let them decide what to do with it. of course people would misallocate their money and then demand to be taken care of, leaving us back at the start.",
"Because businesses still have to be competitive with each other.\n\nIf Walmart raises prices on toilet paper, and Target doesn't, people would get their TP at Target.\n\n",
"The universal basic income would provide more cash to people typically at the expense of higher taxes and less complex systems like benefits.\n\nSo it in a way it's a simplification of the already existing systems... they want to refactor the way money is provided not print more.\n\nAnyway's.\n\nMore money will eventually \"inflate costs\" by effectively watering down the value of the existing money.\n\nBut we're not talking about printing money. This is a redistribution.\n\nPrices will rise for some goods because suddenly there is more \"free\" money. But that will be transient once the cuts in other areas hit.\n\n\nHey I have 1000 bucks! Lets buy that TV. Oh shit my paycheck is half what it was. Lets start banking the 1000 bucks! \n\nYou lost your job? tough you get $1000 a month suck it up. You can't afford to buy school clothes? Dude we pay your kids $600 each. Suck it up.\n\nWhile if you have a good job you will end up banking that $1000 and that $600. So rich people still exist and still prosper.",
"Prices will probably rise on many items, but not anywhere close enough to negate the increase. \n\nThings like basic food stuffs likely wouldnt change. Things like Playstations would simply increase production to meet the increased demand. Other truly limited items might see an increase but don't expect it to be a massive increase. No matter how anyone spins it, you are still taking from the rich and giving to the poor. One side argues that this is unfair and actually creates a culture of dependency that harms the poor in the long run. The other side claims that poor people are more likely to spend their money in ways that create jobs and keep the economy growing for everyone. \n\nAt the end of the day, while we don't have any good examples of a system to the extent of what OP posted. Those that are close don't seem to have as many benefits as one side claims nor as many detriments as the other side claims. ",
"The way I've seen it explained is that:\n\na) Not every citizen is receiving it, only those who currently need it - otherwise you'd just be taxing money and giving it back, with losses due to paying for the bureaucracy of that etc.\n\nb) Goods & Services are expected to rise, but only by something like 5% by calculations I saw, since they're not primarily being payed for by the survival income receivers, or something.",
"If it's paid for by new money (i.e. debt), then that's exactly what would happen. \n\nIf the government acts responsibly and raises taxes enough to fully fund the basic income,\n < waits for laughing to subside > \n < ... > \n < ... > \n < ... > \n\nthen the aggregate demand isn't changed, just shifted, and the price level shouldn't move.",
"Eli5. If you live in a closed community. No in or out. Everyone earning $1 per hour or $2 won't matter. The community will quickly equalize. \n\nHowever you are not in isolation. If 1 us dollar is worth say 2 Canadian and an iPad costs 600 Canadian then the iPad is worth 300 USD plus some traifs or shipping. But if the us population suddenly made double the income the Canadian exchange and prices won't change. People will afford more on a global purchasing scale while locally their rent will increase. People will feel more empowered to live comfortably because they are not living in isolation. \n\nFurthermore many people move to cities because they need the work. If there were options for many to avoid the city rent will decrease because the demand goes down. So these are just some examples of non local changes making a control factor while if we were in a closed off community many of these won't matter. ",
"Using total population of the U.S. \n$1000.00 per person, per month - No age restriction. \n360,000,000 x $1000 = $360,000,000,000 per month. \n360,000,000,000 x 12 months = $4,320,000,000,000 per year. \n \nFigure about 15% of population is below 18 years of age. \n360,000,000 x 0.15 = 54,000,000 those below 18 YOA. \n360,000,000 - 54,000,000 = 306,000,000 persons qualifying. \n306,000,000 x $1000 = $306,000,000,000 per month. \n$306,000,000,000 x 12 months = $3,672,000,000,000 per year. \n \nFigure 20% below the age of 18. \n360,000,000 x 0.20 = 72,000,000 those below 18 YOA. \n360,000,000 - 72,000,000 = 288,000,000 persons qualifying. \n288,000,000 x $1000 - 288,000,000,000 per month. \n$288,000,000,000 x 12 months = $3,456,000,000,000 per year. \n \nSo approximately 3.5 trillion dollars per year must be collected in taxes to support the program. This is not taking overhead / administration costs into account. Oh boy! \n1. What is the total net worth of all persons that are U.S. citizens that are worth over $1,000,000? I don't know, that's why I'm asking. \n2. I'm assuming that since ALL U.S. citizens over the age of 18 will be receiving this money, it means that those persons with a net worth over $1,000,000 will be getting their $1,000 per month also. \n3. What is the \"projected\" GDP of the U.S. per year for the next 10 years? By the by, beware of the \"Black Swans\" (a good book to read), and that \"projections\" in financial anything is closer to voodoo than science. So this number really isn't worth squat. \n4. It's assumed that this money will be all plowed back into the economy every month / year because everyone will be spending it. I.E. no one will be saving it for a rainy day. \n\nAm I missing something here?\n\n",
"This is a strictly accounting approach to the more complex idea of social welfare (let's not debate that here.)\n\nThe thinking is thus:\n\n* We give them food in the form of food stamps\n* We give them housing in the form of council/public housing\n* We give them bus passes\n* We give them clothing\n* We give them school vouchers, etc.\n\n... Would it not be cheaper for the taxpayer to just give them money, and stop all the bureaucracy?",
"Where it has been implemented, in small-scale experiments, the average individual works more hours. Unemployment drops, and people have more disposable income to spend. This improves the health of the economy, and prevents the cost of living from simply absorbing the UBI. ",
"As a US citizen I can say that while UBI sounds great many EU countries don't have the vast diversity in terms of living we do here. The \"middle class\" of one state may be the upper or poor class in another. Ex. I live in Georgia my rent is about 800 a month before utilities for the house (4bd 3 br on .75 acre). We are lower middle class here. My best friend lives in California. His living expenses are almost 3 times what mine are and he lives in less. (2 bd 2 br apt is currently running him 1700 before utilities). This doesn't include the fact that his groceries or anything else is far more expensive there compared to me. We both are considered lower middle class but yet the vast difference in our location make that the reason. So if UBI were effective in the U.S my best friend would need far more to survive than I would and we are both considered somewhere in the middle class. So then you try to offset by getting rid of other services but you forget each state has their own level of regulation and levels of help and in some cases states leave it in their cities hands to determine an effective amount of government help so the UBI then gets altered for each state, and in some cases each city. Based on the cost of living. So my federal tax may go up to support someone not living in my state. As well as my taxes would be altered in my state to help offset the costs of someone living in a more expensive city. As well as trying to restructure our already ludicrous tax system when you have the politics we have here is almost impossible. \n\nTl;dr UBI sounds great in theory and may work in small areas but places as large as the u.s. is a lot harder to make happen with the vast differences in \"survivable \" living within each state and city. Also politics... ",
"Well why do you think prices would rise? What would be the market forces behind that? I guess one thought is that poor people having more access to resources would provide a spike in demand for basic goods that they couldn't afford before. Well the only way that's going to happen is if a sizable portion of our population currently cannot obtain basic goods, which would be horrifying. But besides the point, if there was an up shock in demand, more suppliers would just enter the market and drive us back down to an equilibrium price. ",
"A lot of people would spend the extra income on useless shit. The basic needs at their cheapest are generally very very cheap already, and their cost is based on cost price, those things would still be in demand from people who squander their oncome anyway so demand would still keep the minimum basics ",
"ELI5: This means everyone no matter what? As in. Why would I out myself through the stress of being a heart surgeon when I could make the same and the McDonald's drive through. Am I missing something. ",
" > Some pretty smart people have suggested we do it.\n\nEven smart people can be ideological idiots, basic income is a form of communism, but without the authoritarian aspect of just assigning everyone work.\n\nAnd communism failed, hard.\n\nIn my opinion people who advocate for basic income are idealistic, they think when everyone is equal nobody suffers or something. But that a society need people who \"suffer\" to function is unfortunate but reality.\n\nLook at Quatar, nobody works they swim in money, but who cleans the sewers, builds the buildings or extinguishes fires? Slaves.\n\nA basic income only works if you have slaves doing menial uncomfortable and dangerous work, either robot slaves or human slaves. The first option is not reality today, the second is morally not sustainable.",
"If in was getting free money each month.. I would quit my job and do nothing. That would create the problem of no one working the shit jobs.",
"Get rid of food stamps, tax credits, medicaid, medicare, housing assistance, all welfare entitlements. Then I will support giving everyone (from poverty to billionaires equally) a minimum guarantee income. Must be fair and given to all no exceptions.",
"1. There's an estimated 15 million households who earn less than 15k a year. IF only that group were given a basic income of 15k, it would come to 225 billion a year. And that's just to bring them to upper poverty.\n\nSimply put, there are 200 million adults in the US, at 15k a year that comes to 3 trillion a year. \n\nBasic income becomes very unfeasible if more than a percent or two of the population is using it.\n\nGovernment housing and food stamps were one solution to try and serve the purpose of a basic income and provide an incentive to earn enough to get out of the programs.\n\n",
"What I would like someone to explain to me is how an adult can write a question like this and not realize the massive amount of assumptions it includes, or realize that so many of these assumptions can be trivially shown to be untrue.\n\nFor instance, even if all of this additional income is being entirely spent by each person receiving it, rather than being saved, it would have to be spent on the exact same goods to increase demand proportionally to the new income. It is trivial to show that this will not be the case. Look around at the things you have in your home. Now look at the things your neighbor has. Chances are you didn't buy the same things, because you and your neighbor have different preferences. This means that demand for all items will not increase by the same amount, thus pressure on prices will not increase proportional to the new income. If you imagine each purchase as an auction, you and your neighbor will not be competing for all of the same goods and thus will not bid each other up for each item.\n\nFurthermore, not all goods have prices that respond easily to demand even if demand increases. Some goods are being produced under capacity because demand is not there. For those goods production will easily respond to increased demand while retaining current profit margins and without new investment. There need be no price change. Other goods have convenient substitutions and substitute goods will be used if the price increases too much on the original good.\n\nIt's very likely that some prices will rise, but the idea that all of this additional income will be gobbled by price increases in the presence of a basic income (or as is more frequently argued, a minimum wage) is infantile, and largely disproven by history."
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emryuc | why fruits like bananas and apples rich in antioxidants, themselves undergo oxidation upon exposure to air. | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/emryuc/eli5_why_fruits_like_bananas_and_apples_rich_in/ | {
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"The reason the plant antioxidants don't stop the browning on their own is that there's a constant supply of fresh oxygen, so they run out long before the air does. Secondly, cutting the fruit mixes contents of different compartments of the cell. The vacuole especially contains a bunch of compounds that react with everything. \n\n\nAnd finally, the main reason is that the browning is the plants way of defending itself. All the polyphenols that oxidise form a barrier to microbes that might invade through a cut."
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bgpq57 | why is it so much faster to cook on the stove than in the oven? | Oven = surround sound = slower?
Stove = heat from underneath only = faster? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bgpq57/elif_why_is_it_so_much_faster_to_cook_on_the/ | {
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"In the oven, food is cooked by radiation and by contact with hot air. This is a relatively slow method of heat transfer. You can put your hand in a hot oven for a moment without harm, as long as you don't touch anything.\n\nOn the stove, food is in direct contact with the hot pan (and/or with hot oil or water). This transfers heat very quickly. If you touch a very hot pan, you will be burned in an instant.\n\n(The reason that a gas stove transfers heat to the pan so quickly is that the flame is much, much hotter than cooking temperatures.",
"**TL;DR:** The method of the Transfer of Heat. Oven uses hot air to transfer heat to food over time, while the stove heats up a metal surface that has direct contact with the fire.\n\n**As a result**, less of the energy from the flame is lost to the surroundings and is more concentrated on the food being cooked.\n\n**We** can go in more detail on the topic over discord _URL_0_ if you'd like, all are welcome! \n\n**Let me** know if this answered your question appropriately."
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260xdp | if the nsa is recording every single email and/or phone call in the world, how can they analyze so much data? | Surely computers can't do 100% of the work, right? Do they have such a badass computer that it would understand spoken subtext in a phone call? How do the people that work for NSA know where to look in so much data? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/260xdp/eli5_if_the_nsa_is_recording_every_single_email/ | {
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"First, they aren't doing that.\n\nWhat they do is record phone *records*. As in who called who and when. This is useful because if they have a bombing and then capture a suspect, they might look at the records and see that they called two numbers the evening of the bombing but got one incoming call. They then look at the incoming call's number and see that it has almost all outgoing calls, at regular intervals to a set of five numbers. This indicates that the caller was giving orders or instructions.\n\nSo they go to a judge with a security clearance and say \"We think there is good reason to tap these lines because we think it is a terrorist cell, and future attacks will soon be ordered through this number.\" And usually that judge will issue that warrant, because usually they have good reasons to ask for it.",
"Is it certain they \"record every single email and phone call in the world\"?\n\nRegardless, tracking emails would be easier. A sufficiently powerful computer or set of computers (which they most definitely have) could plow through emails flagging ones either containing certain text or phrases, from certain people, to certain people, or between certain regions or addresses, considering languages spoken as well.\n\nRecording and analyzing that much spoke word is incredibly difficult, and even with the computing power the NSA is public about (and the amount it isn't) there are limitations. It seems unlikely just from a raw data perspective to actually store and analyze EVERY phone call, which could be in any language. Even the world's best speech to text systems aren't perfect, and really work best when the speech is clear and people **want** to be clearly understood. Speaking with uncommon accents or deliberately obscured, in different languages or in code would make it very difficult. With the recordings the NSA does make they likely have a computer make a first pass, and flag the things it can't clearly rule out as safe based on who's calling who, what they say, how they say it, their past calls, and any weird speaking patterns.\n\nTaking huge amounts of data and whittling it down to an amount small enough that well trained humans can actually verify it is an enormously complicated task for a computer.\n\nAs a comparison I work for a company where we have a single server scanning our entire network, tracking all communication and everything attached to it and reporting it all up and filtering out the useful bits of information for tracking purposes. This software cost us a few tens of thousands of dollars (and my time to set it up, which isn't all that expensive either) and it's enormously powerful. It's hardly the entire world's traffic, but it does hit our systems on four continents and thousands of servers and it wasn't that big a deal to put in place.",
"They use distributed processing to query all that data. The NSA surveillance is only possible with this relatively new technology. Our company is using Hadoop to analyze terabytes of data. Before distributed processing, some of the queries would takes days/weeks to run if it would even run at all. Now, it takes minutes."
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6o7i6r | how can ceos of large corporations run them into financial ruin, but get super-wealthy in the process? why are they not paid based on company performance? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6o7i6r/eli5_how_can_ceos_of_large_corporations_run_them/ | {
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"Ah, one of the tricky ones. Well, CE's are paid based on company performance however the metrics used focus on quarterly results which encourage exec's to sacrifice long term stability for short term profit. There's another undesirable effect at work here that magnifies the problem. Top flight CE's are paid largely on their ability to convince wall st analysts and investors that they are delivering value. This means when CE's make moves that destroy long term value to deliver short term profits, markets reward this behavior because that's what CE's are good at doing, fleecing the market. Investors will not want to second guess the person they put in to run the company eiher, so there's really not a lot of working checks and balances. By the time the problems manifest, the CE has either exited with their bonus, or the board forces them out. Now again because top CE's are like movie stars, they will have contracts written that guarantee them a golden parachute at the expense of shareholders. "
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3qgvdi | why are mice seen as cute yet rats are universally hated and feared? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3qgvdi/eli5_why_are_mice_seen_as_cute_yet_rats_are/ | {
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"Because mice are small, cousins of the cute hamster, while rats are commonly associated with the sewer rat which is huge and can cause diseases.",
"Rats are not universally hated and feared. In fact there are plenty of people who keep rats as pets because they're incredibly intelligent and make great little buddies. ",
"Psychologist here: there's actually an explanation. First, it's important to de-generalize your question. People who hate rats often also hate mice and other rodents, and vice versa. It's basic stimulus generalization. For people who are neutral on the issue of rodents, Mice are given more of a pass because of a quirk in our information processing called Neotony. (Nee-ah'-toe-nee). It affects our perception of \"cute\" and lowers our aggression. [If you look at human neotony](_URL_2_) you see that the mathematical proportion of head to body and eyes to head help us differentiate young vs. old, and to a lesser extent women vs. men (women being more neotonous, and gaining certain interpersonal advantages from that). If you apply those same proportions to [different animals](_URL_3_) you can see that the phenomenon is endemic across the board. Maybe the most obvious are [chimps](_URL_0_). Now, all you have to do is look at a [picture of a rat and mouse side-by-side](_URL_1_) to see how closely they conform to the neotony parameters. Becasue of the morphological proportions, one is seen as \"cute\" and the other is seen as a potential danger (aka adult).",
"I work in animal research. Our culture is different in that we tend to prefer rats over mice any day. Rats are intelligent, affectionate, and act relatively civilized. We can cuddle with rats, pet them, and form human-pet connections with them. Mice on the other hand arent that different from insects in their behaviors and intelligence. They eat, shit, sometimes bite, frequently kill their babies, and cannot form any sort of a connection with you. ",
"well after watching this _URL_0_ i definitely want a pet rat now",
"Rats have creepy tails and they seem enormous. That's why I didn't like them before I had one as a pet.",
"Because mice will scurry across a room as close to the wall as possible and try to be unseen. Rats will plop down next to you on the couch and steal your chips. ",
"As somebody who has lived with both mice and rats, I can tell you the reason. Put simply, rats are horrible, filthy assholes. They shit and piss constantly all over anything, they make so much goddamn noise you'd think the roof was coming down, and even when you catch one, you can be sure as hell it's going to bleed everywhere.\n\nThey bite, they kill dogs, they kill cats, they poison water by pissing in it (and kill dogs and cats that drink from it). They chew wires and create short circuits and fires. They are ridiculously clever, hyperactive, zero-bladder control equal-opportunity assholes who are as happy eating eachother as they are eating (and crapping on) your food.\n\nMice, on the other hand, are a bit noisy.",
"Because my old pet rat revived the dark lord and started the second great wizarding war.\n\nNow all I'm left with is this retarded mini-me git of an owl.\n",
"I don't particularly like rats but think mice are cute. I think it's because rats are thought of in connection with sewage, trash, and disease. While mice are Redwall."
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[
"http://erectuswalksamongst.us/Images/Figure%206-1.GIF",
"http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/images/content/mouse_vs_rat.jpg",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoteny",
"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Animal_human_growth_skull_neoteny_cuteness_maturation.png"
],
[],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_aT2kIxHdQ"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
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